invoice-ninjavsShields
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| invoice-ninja | Shields | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70/100 | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 11 in Invoicing | #6 of 166 in Developer Tools |
| GitHub stars | 10 359 | 27 331 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +249 | +125 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 36 | 0 |
| Latest release | v5.13.50 · 21 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | PHP | JavaScript |
Which one should you pick?
Shields scores 80/100 against 70/100 for invoice-ninja, so it is the safer default.
invoice-ninja ships more often: 36 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Shields.
If you want the quickest setup, Shields is easier to run; invoice-ninja needs more configuration.
invoice-ninja details →Shields details →