# Discourse vs PufferPanel

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

| | Discourse | PufferPanel |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 ✓ | 63/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #15 of 62 in Game Servers |
| GitHub stars | 48 025 ✓ | 1 762 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +136 ✓ | +15 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 10 ✓ |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 ✓ | v3.0.9 · 14 Jul 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Discourse scores 83/100 against 63/100 for PufferPanel, so it is the safer default.

PufferPanel ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.

Discourse is growing faster right now (+136 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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