head to head · open source
Misago vs Nameless
Misago has 2,777 GitHub stars, 557 forks, 171 open issues and last shipped today. Nameless has 656 stars, 316 forks, 149 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. Misago leads on adoption by 323% (2,777 vs 656 stars). Misago is written in Python under GPL-2.0; Nameless is written in PHP under MIT. Misago has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, Nameless 48%. 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
| Misago | Nameless | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.8K | ★ 656 |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 557 | ⑂ 316 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Misago if
- You weight community size — 2.8K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Nameless if
- You want the Nameless feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Nameless fits your workflow better
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 It lives in the Python and Django web ecosystem and presents itself as a modern forum platform that challenges outdated forum software opinions.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 →
About Nameless
NamelessMC is free, open source website software for Minecraft servers, distributed under the MIT license and written in PHP. It lives in the Minecraft server ecosystem as a self hosted content management system, with MySQL as its database and a companion in game plugin that connects the website to a running server. The project is eleven years old, carries roughly 655 stars and 316 forks on GitHub, and is developed under the NamelessMC organisation with a public documentation site at namelessmc.com.
read the full Nameless overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Misago or Nameless more popular?
Misago has 2,777 GitHub stars and Nameless has 656. Misago has the larger community by that measure.
Are Misago and Nameless free?
Both are open source. Misago is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Nameless under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Misago and Nameless?
Misago is written in Python and Nameless in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Misago or Nameless?
Choose Misago if you want the larger community (2,777 stars) or its GPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Nameless if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.