DiscoursevsRequest Tracker
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Discourse | Request Tracker | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 65/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #3 of 9 in Helpdesk |
| GitHub stars | 48 027 | 1 164 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +131 | +5 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 2 |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | rt-5.0.10 · 1 Jun 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Perl |
Which one should you pick?
Discourse scores 83/100 against 65/100 for Request Tracker, so it is the safer default.
Request Tracker ships more often: 2 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.
If you want the quickest setup, Discourse is easier to run; Request Tracker needs more configuration.
Discourse is growing faster right now (+131 stars in 30 days).
Discourse details →Request Tracker details →