# harness vs NATS

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

| | harness | NATS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 28 in CI/CD | #2 of 12 in Message Broker |
| GitHub stars | 38 753 ✓ | 20 954 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +319 ✓ | +189 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 6 | 18 ✓ |
| Latest release | v2.28.2 · 20 Apr 2026 | v2.14.9 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

harness and NATS score the same (80/100), so the choice comes down to the details below.

NATS ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for harness.

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

## Details

- [harness](https://selfhost.directory/project/harness) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/harness.md)
- [NATS](https://selfhost.directory/project/nats) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nats.md)

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