Shapado vs giscus
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?
Shapado
Open-source question and answer community software
VS
giscus
Commenting system powered by GitHub Discussions
| Feature | Shapado | giscus |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 527 | ★ 12,002 |
| First released | 2009 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Stack Overflow, Quora | Disqus |
Why pick each one
Choose Shapado if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Ruby
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose giscus if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 12k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Shapado or giscus better?
giscus is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Shapado if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Shapado and giscus free and open-source?
Yes. Shapado is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and giscus under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Shapado and giscus with Docker?
Shapado: check the project docs for container support. giscus: check the project docs for container support.