head to head · open source
ACI.dev vs Orbital
ACI.dev has 4,891 GitHub stars, 485 forks, 63 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Orbital has 360 stars, 14 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. ACI.dev leads on adoption by 1,259% (4,891 vs 360 stars). ACI.dev is written in Python under Apache-2.0; Orbital is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. ACI.dev has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Orbital 4%. Orbital was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (integration), 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| ACI.dev | Orbital | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.9K | ★ 360 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-05-28 | 2026-06-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 485 | ⑂ 14 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ACI.dev if
- You weight community size — 4.9K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Orbital if
- You want the Orbital feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Orbital fits your workflow better
About ACI.dev
ACI.dev is an open source tool calling platform that connects more than 600 tools to any agentic IDE or custom AI agent. It lives in the Python ecosystem and is released under the Apache 2.0 license, with the backend, developer portal, and integrations all published as open source. Agents reach tools either through direct function calling or through a Unified Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, and the same capabilities are also exposed through a lightweight Python SDK and a TypeScript SDK that work with any LLM framework.
read the full ACI.dev overview →
About Orbital
Orbital is an open source data gateway that connects APIs, databases, queues and functions without hand written glue code, aimed at platform, integration and data engineers building BFFs, API composition layers and ETL pipelines.
read the full Orbital overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Integration Platforms projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Integration Platforms field.
Frequently asked questions
Is ACI.dev or Orbital more popular?
ACI.dev has 4,891 GitHub stars and Orbital has 360. ACI.dev has the larger community by that measure.
Are ACI.dev and Orbital free?
Both are open source. ACI.dev is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Orbital has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between ACI.dev and Orbital?
ACI.dev is written in Python and Orbital in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ACI.dev or Orbital?
Choose ACI.dev if you want the larger community (4,891 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Orbital if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.