DiscoursevsStandard Notes
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Discourse | Standard Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 70/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #8 of 81 in Notes & Editors |
| GitHub stars | 48 026 | 6 685 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +137 | +53 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 5 |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | @standardnotes/mobile@3.202.11 · 23 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Discourse scores 83/100 against 70/100 for Standard Notes, so it is the safer default.
Standard Notes ships more often: 5 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.
If you want the quickest setup, Discourse is easier to run; Standard Notes needs more configuration.
Discourse is growing faster right now (+137 stars in 30 days).
Discourse details →Standard Notes details →