head to head · open source
bbs-go vs Misago
bbs-go has 3,478 GitHub stars, 701 forks, 44 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. Misago has 2,776 stars, 557 forks, 171 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bbs-go leads on adoption by 25% (3,478 vs 2,776 stars). bbs-go is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; Misago is written in Python under GPL-2.0. bbs-go has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, Misago 20%. Misago was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (forum), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| bbs-go | Misago | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.5K | ★ 2.8K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-08-25 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 701 | ⑂ 557 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick bbs-go if
- You weight community size — 3.5K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Misago if
- You want the Misago feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Misago fits your workflow better
About bbs-go
bbs go is a lightweight community and Q&A platform for forums, knowledge bases, and discussions. It lives in the self hosted community platform ecosystem, combining questions, posts, articles, comments, votes, tags, and nodes. The project is offered under the GPL 3.0 license, and its topics include golang, react, forum, qna, community, and discussion.
read the full bbs-go overview →
About Misago
Misago is a Python and Django forum application for building online community forums. It lives in the Python and Django web ecosystem and presents itself as a modern forum platform that challenges outdated forum software opinions.
read the full Misago overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is bbs-go or Misago more popular?
bbs-go has 3,478 GitHub stars and Misago has 2,776. bbs-go has the larger community by that measure.
Are bbs-go and Misago free?
Both are open source. bbs-go is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Misago under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between bbs-go and Misago?
bbs-go is written in TypeScript and Misago in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, bbs-go or Misago?
Choose bbs-go if you want the larger community (3,478 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Misago if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.