head to head · open source
AppSmith vs KeystoneJS
AppSmith has 41,153 GitHub stars, 4,824 forks, 4,467 open issues and last shipped yesterday. KeystoneJS has 9,986 stars, 1,262 forks, 138 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. AppSmith leads on adoption by 312% (41,153 vs 9,986 stars). AppSmith is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; KeystoneJS is written in TypeScript under MIT. AppSmith has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, KeystoneJS 13%. AppSmith 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
| AppSmith | KeystoneJS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 10.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AppSmith if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick KeystoneJS if
- You want the KeystoneJS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and KeystoneJS fits your workflow better
About AppSmith
Organizations build custom applications like dashboards, admin panels, customer 360, IT automation, and service management tools to help their teams work more efficiently and effectively. Appsmith is an open source low code platform that streamlines custom application development, deployment, and maintenance. Learn more on our website. Installation There are two ways to start using Appsmith: Signup on Appsmith Cloud. Install Appsmith on your machine. See the installation guides below. For other deployment options, see the Installation Guides documentation. Development To build and run Appsmith in your local dev…
read the full AppSmith overview →
About KeystoneJS
Keystone helps you build faster and scale further than any other CMS or App Framework. Describe your schema, and get a powerful GraphQL API & beautiful Management UI for your content and data. No boilerplate or bootstrapping – just elegant APIs to help you ship the code that matters without sacrificing the flexibility or power of a bespoke back end. Contents Usage & Documentation Versioning Code of Conduct Security License Usage & Documentation Keystone 6 is published to npm under the @keystone 6/ namespace. You can find our extended documentation on our website, but some quick links that might be helpful: Read…
read the full KeystoneJS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppSmith or KeystoneJS more popular?
AppSmith has 41,153 GitHub stars and KeystoneJS has 9,986. AppSmith has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppSmith and KeystoneJS free?
Both are open source. AppSmith is licensed under Apache-2.0 and KeystoneJS under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppSmith and KeystoneJS?
AppSmith is written in TypeScript and KeystoneJS 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, AppSmith or KeystoneJS?
Choose AppSmith if you want the larger community (41,153 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose KeystoneJS if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.