# Discourse vs openpencil

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Discourse | openpencil |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 ✓ | 73/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 7 in Design |
| GitHub stars | 48 028 ✓ | 9 422 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +132 | +821 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 14 ✓ |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v0.16.0 · 14 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Ruby | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Discourse scores 83/100 against 73/100 for openpencil, so it is the safer default.

openpencil ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.

If you want the quickest setup, openpencil is easier to run; Discourse needs more configuration.

openpencil is growing faster right now (+821 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Discourse](https://selfhost.directory/project/discourse) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/discourse.md)
- [openpencil](https://selfhost.directory/project/openpencil) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/openpencil.md)

## Related comparisons

- [Discourse vs Rocket.Chat](https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-rocketchat)
- [Discourse vs Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-zulip)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-openpencil