# NATS vs Spoolman

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

| | NATS | Spoolman |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 ✓ | 65/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 12 in Message Broker | #3 of 22 in 3D Printing |
| GitHub stars | 20 956 ✓ | 2 956 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +191 ✓ | +110 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 ✓ | 7 |
| Latest release | v2.14.9 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ | v0.27.0 · 25 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Go | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

NATS scores 80/100 against 65/100 for Spoolman, so it is the safer default.

NATS ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for Spoolman.

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

## Details

- [NATS](https://selfhost.directory/project/nats) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nats.md)
- [Spoolman](https://selfhost.directory/project/spoolman) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/spoolman.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/nats-vs-spoolman