AnsPress vs Shapado
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted forums & community options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
AnsPress
Question and answer community plugin for WordPress
VS
Shapado
Open-source question and answer community software
| Feature | AnsPress | Shapado |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 296 | ★ 527 |
| First released | 2014 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Stack Overflow, Quora | Stack Overflow, Quora |
Why pick each one
Choose AnsPress if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Shapado if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Ruby
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is AnsPress or Shapado better?
Neither is universally better. Shapado has the larger community, while AnsPress is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are AnsPress and Shapado free and open-source?
Yes. AnsPress is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Shapado under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AnsPress and Shapado with Docker?
AnsPress: check the project docs for container support. Shapado: check the project docs for container support.