Phabricator vs SourceHut
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Phabricator
Suite of web apps to build software faster
VS
SourceHut
The hacker's forge, 100% free and open source
| Feature | Phabricator | SourceHut |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Git Hosting & Forges |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,299 | ★ 2,000 |
| First released | 2011 | 2018 |
| Replaces | GitHub, Jira | GitHub, GitLab |
Why pick each one
Choose Phabricator if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Mature project with 12.3k GitHub stars
- Written in PHP
Choose SourceHut if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Phabricator or SourceHut better?
Neither is universally better. Phabricator has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Phabricator and SourceHut free and open-source?
Yes. Phabricator is licensed under Apache-2.0 and SourceHut under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Phabricator and SourceHut with Docker?
Phabricator: check the project docs for container support. SourceHut: check the project docs for container support.