WriteFreelyvsYOURLS
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| WriteFreely | YOURLS | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 65/100 | 74/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 24 in Blogging | #1 of 23 in URL Shortener |
| GitHub stars | 5 276 | 12 290 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +19 | +47 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 4 |
| Latest release | v0.17.2 · 10 Aug 2026 | 1.10.6 · 30 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Go | PHP |
Which one should you pick?
YOURLS scores 74/100 against 65/100 for WriteFreely, so it is the safer default.
YOURLS ships more often: 4 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for WriteFreely.
YOURLS is growing faster right now (+47 stars in 30 days).
WriteFreely details →YOURLS details →