head to head · open source
ToolJet vs AppSmith
ToolJet has 41,179 GitHub stars, 5,510 forks, 1,204 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppSmith has 41,153 stars, 4,824 forks, 4,467 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ToolJet leads on adoption by 0% (41,179 vs 41,153 stars). ToolJet is written in HTML under AGPL-3.0; AppSmith is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. ToolJet has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, AppSmith 12%. ToolJet 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
| ToolJet | AppSmith | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 41K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | HTML | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 4.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ToolJet if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick AppSmith if
- You want the AppSmith 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 AppSmith fits your workflow better
About ToolJet
ToolJet is an open source platform for building internal tools: admin panels, dashboards, and operational apps that run on your existing databases, APIs, and SaaS systems. Build them by prompting. ToolJet AI turns a description into pages, queries, and components, and the coding agent you already use can do the same through ToolJet's MCP server. Agents build against ToolJet's real component and data contracts rather than emitting free form code, so what you get is an actual ToolJet app: one your team keeps editing in the visual builder, under the same permissions, environments, and version history as everything…
read the full ToolJet overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ToolJet or AppSmith more popular?
ToolJet has 41,179 GitHub stars and AppSmith has 41,153. ToolJet has the larger community by that measure.
Are ToolJet and AppSmith free?
Both are open source. ToolJet is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and AppSmith under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ToolJet and AppSmith?
ToolJet is written in HTML and AppSmith 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, ToolJet or AppSmith?
Choose ToolJet if you want the larger community (41,179 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose AppSmith if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.