DiscoursevsTailchat
Two self-hosted Slack alternatives, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Discourse | Tailchat | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 63/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #6 of 13 in Instant Messaging |
| GitHub stars | 48 024 | 3 642 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +135 | +9 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 7 |
| Latest release | _gh-attach-assets · 15 Jul 2026 | v1.11.18 · 2 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Discourse scores 83/100 against 63/100 for Tailchat, so it is the safer default.
Tailchat ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Discourse.
Discourse is growing faster right now (+135 stars in 30 days).
Discourse details →Tailchat details → All Slack alternatives →
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