# Sharetribe Go: what the source-available marketplace codebase actually gives you > Sharetribe Go is a Ruby on Rails marketplace application that is no longer actively maintained, with the last push on 2026-05-11. It installs from source, runs on MySQL and Sphinx, and is governed by the Sharetribe Community Public License rather than an OSI licence. **sharetribe/sharetribe** — Sharetribe Go is Sharetribe's old source-available marketplace software, which was also available as a hosted SaaS product. Sharetribe Go is no longer actively maintained. - Repository: https://github.com/sharetribe/sharetribe - Website: https://www.sharetribe.com - Stars: 2,449 · Forks: 1,328 - Language: Ruby - License: NOASSERTION - Published: 2026-09-28 · Updated: 2026-09-28 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/sharetribe-sharetribe ## The problem Sharetribe Go solves, and who it is actually for Sharetribe Go is a complete marketplace application you host yourself. The README describes it as Sharetribe's old source-available marketplace software, and it covers the parts a two-sided marketplace needs before you write anything: authentication through devise, third-party login through omniauth-facebook, image uploads through paperclip, background jobs through delayed_job, and a React plus jQuery front end. The target reader is a team that wants to run a marketplace on its own servers and is willing to maintain a Rails application to do it. The audience is narrower than the repository's topic list suggests. Sharetribe's own README points new builders at The New Sharetribe, the hosted product, and says that is the fastest way to build a marketplace without writing code. Sharetribe Go is the path for someone who wants the code, not the service. If you are evaluating marketplace software on the basis of how quickly you can launch, this repository is the wrong starting point, and the project says so itself. The last push was on 2026-05-11, and the README carries a line in capitals stating the project is no longer actively maintained. Treat every design decision below as frozen rather than evolving. ## How the Rails application is put together The stack is conventional for a Rails application of its generation, with a few specifics worth noting. Ruby 3.4.8 and Rails 8.1.2 are listed, MySQL 8.4 is the only tested database, and the README explicitly says PostgreSQL is not guaranteed to work. Node.js 18.16 compiles JavaScript assets, and react_on_rails bridges React, Webpack and Rails. Haml and ERB are both present, so templates are not uniform across the codebase. Two components shape the runtime more than the rest. Search runs through Sphinx rather than the database, which means a separate index build and a separate daemon process alongside your web server. Background work runs through delayed_job, so a worker process is required for anything queued, including mailers and paperclip processing. The docker-compose.yml file reflects that split directly: a web service on port 3000 and a worker service whose command is bundle exec rake jobs:work, with QUEUES set to default,paperclip,mailers. The Dockerfile pins the Node version, installs Ruby 3.4.8 on Debian bookworm, and verifies the Node tarball against SHASUMS256.txt. Deploys are described in the README as a custom script rather than Mina or Capistrano, with Heroku named as the server and Amazon S3 for image hosting. That combination means the deployment story is tied to one hosting arrangement, and the repository does not offer a general-purpose deploy recipe. ## Installing Sharetribe Go and creating your first marketplace The README's installation section assumes a local machine with Ruby, RubyGems, Bundler, Node, Git, MySQL, Sphinx and ImageMagick already present. Start by cloning the repository and checking out the latest release branch. ```bash git clone git@github.com:sharetribe/sharetribe.git cd sharetribe git checkout latest ``` Install the Ruby gems and the Node modules. The README warns that libv8 may fail to build with Clang 7.3 and gives a manual V8 workaround in that case. ```bash bundle install npm install && ( cd client && npm install ) ``` Copy the example configuration files. You will need to fill in the database password in config/database.yml; the README says that is usually the only field required. ```bash cp config/database.example.yml config/database.yml cp config/config.example.yml config/config.yml ``` Create the database from the schema, then build and start the Sphinx index and daemon. Both Sphinx steps are required, and the README notes that if MySQL is configured for SSL you must uncomment the mysql_ssl_ca lines in config/thinking_sphinx.yml. ```bash bundle exec rake db:create db:schema:load bundle exec rake ts:index bundle exec rake ts:start ``` Start the development server with foreman, and in a second terminal start the delayed job worker from the project root. Both processes are needed for a working instance. ```bash foreman start -f Procfile.static bundle exec rake jobs:work ``` The README says that after these steps you open the server URL, for example http://lvh.me:3000 or http://lvh.me:5000, fill in the form to create a new marketplace and admin user, and then modify the marketplace from the admin area. To capture outgoing mail locally, install and start Mailcatcher, then add the smtp settings to config/config.yml and open http://localhost:1080. ```yml development: mail_delivery_method: smtp smtp_email_address: "localhost" smtp_email_port: 1025 ``` ## The maintenance gap and the upgrade path you have to own The clearest limitation is stated in the README itself: Sharetribe Go is no longer actively maintained. The repository is not archived, and the last push was on 2026-05-11, but a project that says it is unmaintained in its own first paragraph should be read that way regardless of commit activity. Recent releases exist, with v14.0.0 dated 2026-05-06, v13.0.0 dated 2026-02-17 and v12.0.0 dated 2025-05-20, so the release cadence is slow and irregular rather than absent. Upgrades are the practical consequence. The repository contains an UPGRADE.md file, and the README links to it under an Upgrade heading, but the README does not document rollback. If a release changes the database schema or the Sphinx index format, the recovery path is yours to design. The spacing between v12.0.0 and v13.0.0 is roughly nine months, which is a long window to sit on a version and then jump. The operational surface is also wider than a single Rails process. MySQL, Sphinx, delayed_job and a Node asset build all have to be running and version-matched. The README states that other Ruby and Node versions are not guaranteed to work, and that only MySQL has been tested. That is a narrow supported configuration for a codebase you will be patching yourself. ## Where Sharetribe Go sits against The New Sharetribe The real alternative is not another open source marketplace project; it is Sharetribe's own hosted product. The README frames The New Sharetribe as the replacement, describing it as the easiest and fastest way to build a marketplace, with custom code and scaling handled on the hosted side. The difference in approach is not a feature list. It is who operates the software. With Sharetribe Go you run Rails, MySQL, Sphinx, delayed_job and the asset pipeline. With the hosted product you configure a marketplace and write custom code against it, and the infrastructure is not your problem. That trade is sharper than it first appears, because Sharetribe Go's deployment story is a custom script targeting Heroku with S3 for images. You are not choosing between two equivalent deployment models; you are choosing between maintaining a Rails application on infrastructure you control and paying for a service that removes that work. The README's own recommendation points at the service. If your reason for looking at Sharetribe Go is licence or data control rather than features, the hosted product does not answer that, and the decision comes down to whether you can carry the maintenance burden described above. ## Licence, versioning and what to check before you commit The README states that Sharetribe Go remains source-available under the Sharetribe Community Public License. The repository's licence field is not a recognised SPDX identifier, and package.json declares MIT for the Node package, which is a different artefact from the application licence. Source-available is not the same as open source, and the README's own wording should be taken at face value: read the LICENSE file in the repository before you plan anything commercial. This is not legal advice, and the terms are the terms in that file. Versioning is release-based rather than continuous. The README has a Versioning section and a Release section, and the installation instructions tell you to check out the latest release branch rather than master. If you build on master, you are outside the path the project documents. Before committing, verify the Ruby, Node, MySQL and Sphinx versions against the technology stack list, confirm you can run the Sphinx index and daemon in your environment, and read UPGRADE.md and CHANGELOG.md to see what a version jump involves. The README does not describe rollback, so decide your own before you deploy. ## Conclusion Adopt Sharetribe Go only if you need a self-hosted Rails marketplace and can absorb the operational cost of MySQL, Sphinx, delayed_job and a custom deploy script, with the Sharetribe Community Public License reviewed before you ship anything commercial. Do not adopt it if you want an actively maintained upstream, a documented upgrade path, or a SaaS product with support attached; the README states the project is no longer actively maintained. Verify first that your Ruby and Node versions match the ones listed in the technology stack, that you can run the Sphinx index and daemon, and that you are comfortable reading UPGRADE.md yourself, because the README does not document rollback. ## FAQ ### What is Sharetribe Go used for? It is marketplace software you host yourself, covering authentication, listings, image uploads, search and background jobs. The README describes it as Sharetribe's old source-available marketplace software, and points new builders at The New Sharetribe instead. ### Is Sharetribe Go open source? The README says it remains source-available under the Sharetribe Community Public License, which is not the same as an open source licence. The repository's licence field is not a recognised SPDX identifier, so read the LICENSE file directly. ### Is Sharetribe Go free? The README does not describe pricing for Sharetribe Go. It is distributed as source code under the Sharetribe Community Public License, and the README directs anyone wanting a hosted marketplace to The New Sharetribe. ### What is Sharetribe Flex? The README does not mention Sharetribe Flex. It describes Sharetribe Go and refers to The New Sharetribe as the replacement product, so this article cannot answer questions about Flex. ### How do I use Sharetribe Go? You install it from source, run the Rails server together with the Sphinx daemon and the delayed job worker, then open the server URL and fill in the form to create a new marketplace and admin user. The README says you can then modify the marketplace from the admin area. ## Sources - [Issues](https://github.com/sharetribe/sharetribe/issues) - [Project website](https://www.sharetribe.com) - [README](https://github.com/sharetribe/sharetribe/blob/master/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/sharetribe/sharetribe/releases) - [sharetribe/sharetribe on GitHub](https://github.com/sharetribe/sharetribe) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/sharetribe-sharetribe