head to head · open source
symphony vs jivejdon
symphony has 2,943 GitHub stars, 507 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. jivejdon has 588 stars, 160 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped today. symphony leads on adoption by 401% (2,943 vs 588 stars). symphony is written in Java under AGPL-3.0; jivejdon is written in Java under Apache-2.0. symphony has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, jivejdon 27%. jivejdon 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
| symphony | jivejdon | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.9K | ★ 588 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 507 | ⑂ 160 |
| 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 jivejdon if
- You want the jivejdon 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 jivejdon 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 jivejdon
Jivejdon is a Java, Apache 2.0 licensed chain notebook and knowledge system that combines DDD, domain events, event sourcing, CQRS and clean/hexagonal architecture to link blog and forum posts into a knowledge graph — built for enterprises and teams that want to run their own internal knowledge system rather than a flat publishing CMS.
read the full jivejdon overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is symphony or jivejdon more popular?
symphony has 2,943 GitHub stars and jivejdon has 588. symphony has the larger community by that measure.
Are symphony and jivejdon free?
Both are open source. symphony is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and jivejdon under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between symphony and jivejdon?
symphony is written in Java and jivejdon 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 jivejdon?
Choose symphony if you want the larger community (2,943 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose jivejdon if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.