# Flarum vs Rocket.Chat

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

| | Flarum | Rocket.Chat |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 69/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #6 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #1 of 13 in Instant Messaging |
| GitHub stars | 6 764 | 46 349 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +13 | +188 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 12 | 36 ✓ |
| Latest release | v1.8.21 · 23 Oct 2026 ✓ | 8.5.4 · 16 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MIT | Other |
| Main language | PHP | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Rocket.Chat scores 82/100 against 69/100 for Flarum, so it is the safer default.

Rocket.Chat ships more often: 36 stable releases in the past year, against 12 for Flarum.

Rocket.Chat is growing faster right now (+188 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Flarum](https://selfhost.directory/project/flarum) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/flarum.md)
- [Rocket.Chat](https://selfhost.directory/project/rocketchat) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/rocketchat.md)

## Related comparisons

- [Discourse vs Rocket.Chat](https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-rocketchat)
- [Rocket.Chat vs Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/compare/rocketchat-vs-zulip)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/flarum-vs-rocketchat