Forem SelfhostvsWriteFreely
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Forem Selfhost | WriteFreely | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 51/100 | 65/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 6 in Community | #2 of 24 in Blogging |
| GitHub stars | 1 480 | 5 276 |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +19 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 3 |
| Latest release | — | v0.17.2 · 10 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Jinja | Go |
Which one should you pick?
WriteFreely scores 65/100 against 51/100 for Forem Selfhost, so it is the safer default.
WriteFreely ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Forem Selfhost.
If you want the quickest setup, WriteFreely is easier to run; Forem Selfhost needs more configuration.
WriteFreely is growing faster right now (+19 stars in 30 days).
Forem Selfhost details →WriteFreely details →