Discoursevsopen-tag
Two self-hosted Slack alternatives, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Discourse | open-tag | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 45/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #68 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 48 024 | 213 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +135 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 10 |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v0.14.3 · 22 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Discourse scores 83/100 against 45/100 for open-tag, so it is the safer default.
open-tag ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.
If you want the quickest setup, Discourse is easier to run; open-tag needs more configuration.
Discourse is growing faster right now (+135 stars in 30 days).
Discourse details →open-tag details → All Slack alternatives →
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