head to head · open source
talkyard vs Loops
talkyard has 1,812 GitHub stars, 129 forks, 127 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Loops has 454 stars, 60 forks, 42 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. talkyard leads on adoption by 299% (1,812 vs 454 stars). talkyard is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Loops is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0. talkyard has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Loops 13%. Loops was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| talkyard | Loops | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 1.8K | ★ 454 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-07-13 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 129 | ⑂ 60 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick talkyard if
- You weight community size — 1.8K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Loops if
- You want the Loops feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Loops fits your workflow better
About talkyard
Talkyard is a community discussion platform written in TypeScript and licensed under AGPL 3.0. It describes itself as forum software with chat and anonymous comments, and its topics connect it to StackOverflow style questions and answers, Slack style chat, Discourse style forums, Reddit style voting, and Disqus style blog comments.
read the full talkyard overview →
About Loops
Loops is a federated, open source short video sharing platform, licensed under AGPL 3.0, that lets creators and communities run their own video server while connecting across the open social web via ActivityPub, and it is aimed at server operators, community moderators, and creators who want short form video without centralized platform control.
read the full Loops overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is talkyard or Loops more popular?
talkyard has 1,812 GitHub stars and Loops has 454. talkyard has the larger community by that measure.
Are talkyard and Loops free?
Both are open source. talkyard is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Loops under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between talkyard and Loops?
talkyard is written in TypeScript and Loops 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, talkyard or Loops?
Choose talkyard if you want the larger community (1,812 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Loops if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.