# harness vs pretalx

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

| | harness | pretalx |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 ✓ | 62/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 28 in CI/CD | #2 of 3 in Conference Management |
| GitHub stars | 38 759 ✓ | 954 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +325 ✓ | +8 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 6 | 7 ✓ |
| Latest release | v2.28.2 · 20 Apr 2026 | v2026.2.1 · 8 Jul 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Go | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

harness scores 80/100 against 62/100 for pretalx, so it is the safer default.

pretalx ships more often: 7 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for harness.

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

harness is growing faster right now (+325 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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