head to head · open source
AppSmith vs Rowy
AppSmith has 41,153 GitHub stars, 4,824 forks, 4,467 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Rowy has 6,848 stars, 559 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped 1.9 years ago. AppSmith leads on adoption by 501% (41,153 vs 6,848 stars). AppSmith is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Rowy is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. AppSmith has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Rowy 8%. AppSmith was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (internal-tools), 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
| AppSmith | Rowy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2024-11-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 559 |
| 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 Rowy if
- You want the Rowy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Rowy 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 Rowy
✨ Airtable like UI for managing database ✨ Build any automation, with or without code ✨ Connect to your database and create Cloud Functions in low code without leaving your browser. Focus on building your apps. Low code for Firebase and Google Cloud. Website • Documentation • Chat with us • Twitter Live Demo 🛝 💥 Explore Rowy on live demo playground 💥 Features ✨ Powerful spreadsheet interface for Firestore CMS for Firestore CRUD operations Bulk import or export data csv, json, tsv Sort and filter by row values Lock, Freeze, Resize, Hide and Rename columns Multiple views for the same collection Automate with…
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppSmith or Rowy more popular?
AppSmith has 41,153 GitHub stars and Rowy has 6,848. AppSmith has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppSmith and Rowy free?
Both are open source. AppSmith is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Rowy has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between AppSmith and Rowy?
AppSmith is written in TypeScript and Rowy 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 Rowy?
Choose AppSmith if you want the larger community (41,153 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Rowy if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.