head to head · open source
AppSmith vs Rowy
AppSmith has 40,894 GitHub stars, 4,761 forks, 4,467 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Rowy has 6,840 stars, 557 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped 1.8 years ago. AppSmith leads on adoption by 498% (40,894 vs 6,840 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 | 2026-09-17 | 2024-11-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 557 |
| 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
Appsmith is an open source, Apache 2.0 low code platform written primarily in TypeScript that lets teams build custom internal tools such as admin panels, dashboards, and CRUD applications on top of their own databases and APIs.
read the full AppSmith overview →
About Rowy
Rowy is an open source low code backend platform that runs in the browser. It provides a spreadsheet like interface for managing data stored in Firestore, and it embeds a code editor for writing cloud functions in JavaScript or TypeScript. The project lives in the Firebase and Google Cloud Platform ecosystem, and it is written in TypeScript. It is commonly described as an Airtable style front end for a Firestore database, with automation built in.
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppSmith or Rowy more popular?
AppSmith has 40,894 GitHub stars and Rowy has 6,840. 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 (40,894 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.