head to head · open source
symphony vs Nameless
symphony has 2,943 GitHub stars, 507 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. Nameless has 656 stars, 316 forks, 149 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. symphony leads on adoption by 349% (2,943 vs 656 stars). symphony is written in Java under AGPL-3.0; Nameless is written in PHP under MIT. symphony has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, Nameless 48%. symphony 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 | Nameless | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.9K | ★ 656 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-09 | 2026-09-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 507 | ⑂ 316 |
| 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 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 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 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 symphony or Nameless more popular?
symphony has 2,943 GitHub stars and Nameless has 656. symphony has the larger community by that measure.
Are symphony and Nameless free?
Both are open source. symphony is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Nameless under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between symphony and Nameless?
symphony is written in Java 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, symphony or Nameless?
Choose symphony if you want the larger community (2,943 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Nameless if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.