head to head · open source
symphony vs scoold
symphony has 2,943 GitHub stars, 507 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. scoold has 922 stars, 227 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. symphony leads on adoption by 219% (2,943 vs 922 stars). symphony is written in Java under AGPL-3.0; scoold is written in Java under Apache-2.0. symphony has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, scoold 25%. scoold was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (forum, java), 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
| symphony | scoold | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.9K | ★ 922 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 507 | ⑂ 227 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick symphony if
- You weight community size — 2.9K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick scoold if
- You want the scoold feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and scoold fits your workflow better
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 →
About scoold
Scoold is an Apache 2.0 licensed, self hostable Q&A and knowledge sharing platform for teams and organizations that want a Stack Overflow style space for internal questions and answers.
read the full scoold overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is symphony or scoold more popular?
symphony has 2,943 GitHub stars and scoold has 922. symphony has the larger community by that measure.
Are symphony and scoold free?
Both are open source. symphony is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and scoold under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between symphony and scoold?
symphony is written in Java and scoold 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, symphony or scoold?
Choose symphony if you want the larger community (2,943 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose scoold if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.