# mbusd vs plain-app

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

| | mbusd | plain-app |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 52/100 | 69/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 4 in Industrial IoT | #3 of 11 in File Transfer & Sync |
| GitHub stars | 684 | 7 085 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +325 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 1 | 34 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.5.3 · 7 Apr 2026 | v3.3.25 · 11 Sept 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | C | Kotlin |

## Which one should you pick?

plain-app scores 69/100 against 52/100 for mbusd, so it is the safer default.

plain-app ships more often: 34 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for mbusd.

If you want the quickest setup, plain-app is easier to run; mbusd needs more configuration.

plain-app is growing faster right now (+325 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [mbusd](https://selfhost.directory/project/mbusd) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mbusd.md)
- [plain-app](https://selfhost.directory/project/plain-app) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/plain-app.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/mbusd-vs-plain-app