NATSvsWBO
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| NATS | WBO | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 61/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 12 in Message Broker | #2 of 9 in Whiteboarding |
| GitHub stars | 20 954 | 2 675 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +192 | +17 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 | 4 |
| Latest release | v2.14.9 · 26 Oct 2026 | v2.18.26 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Go | JavaScript |
Which one should you pick?
NATS scores 80/100 against 61/100 for WBO, so it is the safer default.
NATS ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 4 for WBO.
If you want the quickest setup, WBO is easier to run; NATS needs more configuration.
NATS is growing faster right now (+192 stars in 30 days).
Swap a project
Keep NATS, compare it with
Keep WBO, compare it with