Throat 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?
Throat
Self-hosted Reddit-style community platform
VS
Tildes
Non-profit community discussion platform
| Feature | Throat | Tildes |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Forums & Community | Forums & Community |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 77 | ★ 1,000 |
| First released | 2016 | 2018 |
| Replaces |
Why pick each one
Choose Throat if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- 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 Throat or Tildes better?
Neither is universally better. Tildes has the larger community, while Throat is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Throat and Tildes free and open-source?
Yes. Throat is licensed under MIT and Tildes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Throat and Tildes with Docker?
Throat: yes. Tildes: check the project docs for container support.