# Obscura vs Zulip

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

| | Obscura | Zulip |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 75/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 16 in Web Scraping | #1 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 29 561 ✓ | 26 137 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +477 ✓ | +187 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 10 ✓ | 6 |
| Latest release | v0.2.5 · 17 Oct 2026 ✓ | 12.3 · 21 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Rust | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Zulip scores 82/100 against 75/100 for Obscura, so it is the safer default.

Obscura ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for Zulip.

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

Obscura is growing faster right now (+477 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Obscura](https://selfhost.directory/project/obscura) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/obscura.md)
- [Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/project/zulip) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/zulip.md)

## Related comparisons

- [Discourse vs Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/compare/discourse-vs-zulip)
- [Rocket.Chat vs Zulip](https://selfhost.directory/compare/rocketchat-vs-zulip)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/obscura-vs-zulip