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.
Not the right match-up?
Lobsters
Computing-focused link aggregation and discussion site
VS
Tildes
Non-profit community discussion platform
| Feature | Lobsters | Tildes |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | ★ 4,814 | ★ 1,000 |
| First released | 2012 | 2018 |
| Replaces | 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
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.