SurrealDBvsZulip
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| SurrealDB | Zulip | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #5 of 38 in Databases | #1 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 33 241 | 26 133 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +183 | +190 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 | 6 |
| Latest release | v3.3.4 · 19 Oct 2026 | 12.3 · 21 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Rust | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Zulip scores 82/100 against 78/100 for SurrealDB, so it is the safer default.
SurrealDB ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for Zulip.
If you want the quickest setup, SurrealDB is easier to run; Zulip needs more configuration.
SurrealDB details →Zulip details →