DiscoursevsShlink
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Discourse | Shlink | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 70/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #3 of 23 in URL Shortener |
| GitHub stars | 48 027 | 5 381 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +131 | +78 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 13 |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v5.1.8 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Ruby | PHP |
Which one should you pick?
Discourse scores 83/100 against 70/100 for Shlink, so it is the safer default.
Shlink ships more often: 13 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.
If you want the quickest setup, Shlink is easier to run; Discourse needs more configuration.
Discourse details →Shlink details →