# Portainer vs Thingsboard

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

| | Portainer | Thingsboard |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 ✓ | 76/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 44 in Container Management | #1 of 10 in IoT |
| GitHub stars | 38 739 ✓ | 22 616 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +177 ✓ | +137 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 | 24 ✓ |
| Latest release | 2.45.3 · 21 Oct 2026 | v4.3.1.8 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Zlib | Other |
| Main language | Typescript | Java |

## Which one should you pick?

Portainer scores 77/100 against 76/100 for Thingsboard, so it is the safer default.

Thingsboard ships more often: 24 stable releases in the past year, against 21 for Portainer.

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

## Details

- [Portainer](https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer.md)
- [Thingsboard](https://selfhost.directory/project/thingsboard) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/thingsboard.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/portainer-vs-thingsboard