ShieldsvsThingsboard
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Shields | Thingsboard | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 76/100 |
| Rank in category | #6 of 166 in Developer Tools | #1 of 10 in IoT |
| GitHub stars | 27 331 | 22 620 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +125 | +141 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 24 |
| Latest release | — | v4.3.1.8 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | JavaScript | Java |
Which one should you pick?
Shields scores 80/100 against 76/100 for Thingsboard, so it is the safer default.
Thingsboard ships more often: 24 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Shields.
If you want the quickest setup, Shields is easier to run; Thingsboard needs more configuration.
Shields details →Thingsboard details →