head to head · open source
ActivePieces vs Steel
ActivePieces has 25,343 GitHub stars, 4,422 forks, 573 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Steel has 7,908 stars, 1,002 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. ActivePieces leads on adoption by 220% (25,343 vs 7,908 stars). ActivePieces is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Steel is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. ActivePieces has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, Steel 13%. ActivePieces was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai-agents), 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
| ActivePieces | Steel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 7.9K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 1.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ActivePieces if
- You weight community size — 25K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Steel if
- You want the Steel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Steel fits your workflow better
About ActivePieces
An open source replacement for Zapier Documentation 🌪️ Create a Piece 🖉 Deploy 🔥 Join Discord 🤯 Welcome to Activepieces All in one AI automation designed to be extensible through a type safe pieces framework written in TypeScript . When you contribute pieces to Activepieces they become automatically available as MCP servers that you can use with LLMs through Claude Desktop, Cursor or Windsurf! 🔥 Why Activepieces is Different: 💖 Loved by Everyone : Intuitive interface and great experience for both technical and non technical users with a quick learning curve. 🌐 Open Ecosystem: All pieces are open source…
read the full ActivePieces overview →
About Steel
Steel The open source browser API for AI agents & apps. The best way to build live web agents and browser automation tools. Get Started · Documentation · Website · Cookbook ✨ Highlights Steel.dev is an open source browser API that makes it easy to build AI apps and agents that interact with the web. Instead of building automation infrastructure from scratch, you can focus on your AI application while Steel handles the complexity. Under the hood, it manages sessions, pages, and browser processes, allowing you to perform complex browsing tasks programmatically without any of the headaches: Full Browser Control…
read the full Steel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ActivePieces or Steel more popular?
ActivePieces has 25,343 GitHub stars and Steel has 7,908. ActivePieces has the larger community by that measure.
Are ActivePieces and Steel free?
Both are open source. ActivePieces has no licence declared in this registry, and Steel is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between ActivePieces and Steel?
ActivePieces is written in TypeScript and Steel 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, ActivePieces or Steel?
Choose ActivePieces if you want the larger community (25,343 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Steel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.