MealievsShields
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Mealie | Shields | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 18 in Recipe Management | #6 of 166 in Developer Tools |
| GitHub stars | 13 715 | 27 331 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +406 | +125 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 23 | 0 |
| Latest release | v3.29.0 · 17 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | JavaScript |
Which one should you pick?
Shields scores 80/100 against 75/100 for Mealie, so it is the safer default.
Mealie ships more often: 23 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Shields.
If you want the quickest setup, Shields is easier to run; Mealie needs more configuration.
Mealie is growing faster right now (+406 stars in 30 days).
Mealie details →Shields details →
Swap a project
Keep Mealie, compare it with
Keep Shields, compare it with