# scalar vs WriteFreely

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

| | scalar | WriteFreely |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 76/100 ✓ | 65/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 13 in API | #2 of 24 in Blogging |
| GitHub stars | 16 336 ✓ | 5 276 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +147 ✓ | +19 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 46 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | release-2026-10-28-0d01943 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ | v0.17.2 · 10 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

scalar scores 76/100 against 65/100 for WriteFreely, so it is the safer default.

scalar ships more often: 46 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for WriteFreely.

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

scalar is growing faster right now (+147 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [scalar](https://selfhost.directory/project/scalar) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/scalar.md)
- [WriteFreely](https://selfhost.directory/project/writefreely) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/writefreely.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/scalar-vs-writefreely