head to head · open source
alive-progress vs helios-server
alive-progress has 6,323 GitHub stars, 242 forks, 20 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. helios-server has 927 stars, 391 forks, 27 open issues and last shipped yesterday. alive-progress leads on adoption by 582% (6,323 vs 927 stars). alive-progress is written in Python under MIT; helios-server is written in Python under Apache-2.0. alive-progress has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, helios-server 42%. helios-server 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
| alive-progress | helios-server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 6.3K | ★ 927 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-05-24 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 242 | ⑂ 391 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick alive-progress if
- You weight community size — 6.3K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick helios-server if
- You want the helios-server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and helios-server fits your workflow better
About alive-progress
alive progress Have you ever wondered where your lengthy processing was at, and when would it finish? Do you usually hit RETURN several times to make sure it didn't crash, or the SSH connection didn't freeze? Have you ever thought it'd be awesome to be able to pause some processing without hassle, return to the Python prompt to manually fix some items, then seamlessly resume it? I did... I've started this new progress bar thinking about all that, behold the alive progress ! 😃 Introducing the newest concept in progress bars for Python! alive progress is in a class of its own, with an array of cool features that…
read the full alive-progress overview →
About helios-server
Helios Election System Helios is an end to end verifiable voting system.
read the full helios-server overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is alive-progress or helios-server more popular?
alive-progress has 6,323 GitHub stars and helios-server has 927. alive-progress has the larger community by that measure.
Are alive-progress and helios-server free?
Both are open source. alive-progress is licensed under MIT and helios-server under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between alive-progress and helios-server?
alive-progress is written in Python and helios-server in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, alive-progress or helios-server?
Choose alive-progress if you want the larger community (6,323 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose helios-server if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.