head to head · open source
giscus vs helios-server
giscus has 12,110 GitHub stars, 481 forks, 127 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. helios-server has 924 stars, 386 forks, 27 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. giscus leads on adoption by 1,211% (12,110 vs 924 stars). giscus is written in TypeScript under MIT; helios-server is written in Python under Apache-2.0. giscus has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, helios-server 42%. helios-server was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (javascript), 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
| giscus | helios-server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 924 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-05-26 | 2026-08-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 481 | ⑂ 386 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick giscus if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick helios-server if
- You want the helios-server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and helios-server fits your workflow better
About giscus
giscus is an open source, MIT licensed commenting system powered by GitHub Discussions that lets visitors leave comments and reactions on a website through their existing GitHub accounts.
read the full giscus overview →
About helios-server
Helios is an end to end verifiable voting system, published as the open source helios server project for election organizers and developers who need to run votes whose results can be checked independently rather than taken on trust.
read the full helios-server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is giscus or helios-server more popular?
giscus has 12,110 GitHub stars and helios-server has 924. giscus has the larger community by that measure.
Are giscus and helios-server free?
Both are open source. giscus is licensed under MIT and helios-server under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between giscus and helios-server?
giscus is written in TypeScript and helios-server 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, giscus or helios-server?
Choose giscus if you want the larger community (12,110 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose helios-server if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.