# Observal vs YOURLS

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

| | Observal | YOURLS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 65/100 | 74/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #40 of 209 in AI Agents | #1 of 23 in URL Shortener |
| GitHub stars | 4 533 | 12 289 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 159 ✓ | +46 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 33 ✓ | 4 |
| Latest release | v1.15.1 · 16 Oct 2026 ✓ | 1.10.6 · 30 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Python | PHP |

## Which one should you pick?

YOURLS scores 74/100 against 65/100 for Observal, so it is the safer default.

Observal ships more often: 33 stable releases in the past year, against 4 for YOURLS.

Observal is growing faster right now (+1 159 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Observal](https://selfhost.directory/project/observal) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/observal.md)
- [YOURLS](https://selfhost.directory/project/yourls) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/yourls.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/observal-vs-yourls