# hometown vs NodeBB

> Two self-hosted [Social Networks & Forums projects](https://selfhost.directory/social-networks-forums), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | hometown | NodeBB |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 48/100 | 73/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #52 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #4 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums |
| GitHub stars | 819 | 15 243 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +18 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 11 | 31 ✓ |
| Latest release | v4.6.9+hometown-1.3.1 · 14 Oct 2026 | v4.16.5 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | JavaScript |

## Which one should you pick?

NodeBB scores 73/100 against 48/100 for hometown, so it is the safer default.

NodeBB ships more often: 31 stable releases in the past year, against 11 for hometown.

NodeBB is growing faster right now (+18 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [hometown](https://selfhost.directory/project/hometown) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/hometown.md)
- [NodeBB](https://selfhost.directory/project/nodebb) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nodebb.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/hometown-vs-nodebb