# Encore vs harness

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

| | Encore | harness |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 80/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #4 of 14 in Platform as a Service | #3 of 28 in CI/CD |
| GitHub stars | 12 648 | 38 745 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +163 | +318 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 9 ✓ | 6 |
| Latest release | v1.58.8 · 20 Oct 2026 ✓ | v2.28.2 · 20 Apr 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

harness scores 80/100 against 72/100 for Encore, so it is the safer default.

Encore ships more often: 9 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for harness.

If you want the quickest setup, harness is easier to run; Encore needs more configuration.

## Details

- [Encore](https://selfhost.directory/project/encore) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/encore.md)
- [harness](https://selfhost.directory/project/harness) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/harness.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/encore-vs-harness