# Flarum vs Zulip

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

| | Flarum | Zulip |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 69/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #6 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #1 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 6 764 | 26 134 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +12 | +184 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 12 ✓ | 6 |
| Latest release | v1.8.21 · 23 Oct 2026 ✓ | 12.3 · 21 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | PHP | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

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

Flarum ships more often: 12 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for Zulip.

Zulip is growing faster right now (+184 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Flarum](https://selfhost.directory/project/flarum) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/flarum.md)
- [Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/project/zulip) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/zulip.md)

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- [Discourse vs Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-zulip)
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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/flarum-vs-zulip