# Lemmy vs openpencil

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

| | Lemmy | openpencil |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 ✓ | 73/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 7 in Design |
| GitHub stars | 14 652 ✓ | 9 424 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +43 | +823 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 14 ✓ |
| Latest release | 0.19.21 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ | v0.16.0 · 14 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Rust | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Lemmy scores 75/100 against 73/100 for openpencil, so it is the safer default.

openpencil ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Lemmy.

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

openpencil is growing faster right now (+823 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Lemmy](https://selfhost.directory/project/lemmy) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/lemmy.md)
- [openpencil](https://selfhost.directory/project/openpencil) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/openpencil.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/lemmy-vs-openpencil