ShlinkvsUnison
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Shlink | Unison | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 70/100 | 65/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 23 in URL Shortener | #2 of 15 in File Sync |
| GitHub stars | 5 379 | 5 559 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +76 | +65 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 13 | 2 |
| Latest release | v5.1.8 · 21 Oct 2026 | v2.54.0 · 1 May 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | PHP | OCaml |
Which one should you pick?
Shlink scores 70/100 against 65/100 for Unison, so it is the safer default.
Shlink ships more often: 13 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for Unison.
If you want the quickest setup, Shlink is easier to run; Unison needs more configuration.
Shlink details →Unison details →