Answer vs Lobsters
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?
Answer
Modern Q&A platform for building knowledge communities
VS
Lobsters
Computing-focused link aggregation and discussion site
| Feature | Answer | Lobsters |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Go | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 15,635 | ★ 4,814 |
| First released | 2022 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Stack Overflow, Confluence | Reddit, Hacker News |
Why pick each one
Choose Lobsters if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Active community (4.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Ruby
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Answer or Lobsters better?
Answer is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Lobsters if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Answer and Lobsters free and open-source?
Yes. Answer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Lobsters under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Answer and Lobsters with Docker?
Answer: yes. Lobsters: check the project docs for container support.