ShieldsvsShlink
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Shields | Shlink | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 70/100 |
| Rank in category | #6 of 166 in Developer Tools | #3 of 23 in URL Shortener |
| GitHub stars | 27 331 | 5 381 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +125 | +78 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 13 |
| Latest release | — | v5.1.8 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | JavaScript | PHP |
Which one should you pick?
Shields scores 80/100 against 70/100 for Shlink, so it is the safer default.
Shlink ships more often: 13 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Shields.
Shields details →Shlink details →