Lobsters vs Tildes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted forums & community options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Lobsters | Tildes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,841 | ★ 1,000 |
| First released | 2012 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Reddit, Hacker News |
What are Lobsters and Tildes?
Lobsters
Lobsters is the open-source software behind the computing-focused link aggregation community of the same name. It offers tag-based stories, threaded comments, and an invitation-based membership model.
- Tag-based story feed
- Threaded comments
- Invitation tree
- Hotness ranking
Tildes
Tildes is the open-source code behind a non-profit, ad-free community discussion site organized into topic groups. It emphasizes thoughtful conversation through invite-based membership and gentle moderation tools.
- Topic-group structure
- Invite-based growth
- Comment tagging
- Ad-free by design
Lobsters vs Tildes: key differences
Lobsters is written in Ruby, while Tildes is built with Python. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Lobsters versus AGPL-3.0 for Tildes. Lobsters is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Tildes. Lobsters is the more established project (first released 2012), while Tildes arrived in 2018. Lobsters has the considerably larger community, at 4,841 GitHub stars versus 1,000.
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
Choose Tildes if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Lobsters or Tildes better?
Lobsters is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Tildes if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Lobsters and Tildes free and open-source?
Yes. Lobsters is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Tildes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Lobsters and Tildes with Docker?
Lobsters: check the project docs for container support. Tildes: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Lobsters or Tildes?
Lobsters has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Tildes. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.