head to head · open source
bbs-go vs symphony
bbs-go has 3,478 GitHub stars, 701 forks, 44 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. symphony has 2,939 stars, 507 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. bbs-go leads on adoption by 18% (3,478 vs 2,939 stars). bbs-go is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; symphony is written in Java under AGPL-3.0. bbs-go has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, symphony 17%. symphony was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (bbs, community, discussion, 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 | symphony | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.5K | ★ 2.9K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-08-25 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 701 | ⑂ 507 |
| 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 symphony if
- You want the symphony feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and symphony 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 symphony
Symphony is a community platform implemented in Java under the AGPL 3.0 license. It combines a discussion forum, a Q&A site, a social network with sharing, friends, and games, and blog like publishing in one system. The project lives in the Java ecosystem and is published through the B3log website and official discussion area.
read the full symphony overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is bbs-go or symphony more popular?
bbs-go has 3,478 GitHub stars and symphony has 2,939. bbs-go has the larger community by that measure.
Are bbs-go and symphony free?
Both are open source. bbs-go is licensed under GPL-3.0 and symphony under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between bbs-go and symphony?
bbs-go is written in TypeScript and symphony in Java. 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 symphony?
Choose bbs-go if you want the larger community (3,478 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose symphony if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.