head to head · open source
Archon vs rowboat
Archon has 23,807 GitHub stars, 3,518 forks, 321 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rowboat has 18,126 stars, 1,816 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Archon leads on adoption by 31% (23,807 vs 18,126 stars). Archon is written in TypeScript under MIT; rowboat is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Archon has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, rowboat 10%. rowboat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), 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
| Archon | rowboat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 18K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Archon if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick rowboat if
- You want the rowboat 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 rowboat fits your workflow better
About Archon
Archon The first open source harness builder for AI coding. Make AI coding deterministic and repeatable. Archon is a workflow engine for AI coding agents. Define your development processes as YAML workflows planning, implementation, validation, code review, PR creation and run them reliably across all your projects. Like what Dockerfiles did for infrastructure and GitHub Actions did for CI/CD Archon does for AI coding workflows. Think n8n, but for software development. Why Archon? When you ask an AI agent to "fix this bug", what happens depends on the model's mood. It might skip planning. It might forget to run…
read the full Archon overview →
About rowboat
Rowboat A desktop AI coworker with a memory of your work and built in surfaces to act on it. 简体中文 · 日本語 · 한국어 · Español · Français · Português Rowboat indexes your work into a living knowledge graph and uses that to get work done on your machine. It includes work surfaces for collaborating with AI: email client, notes, browser, code mode, meeting note taker, and workspaces for different projects. Download latest for Mac/Windows/Linux: Download Demo apps to code · Demo knowledge graph ⭐ If you find Rowboat useful, please star the repo. It helps more people find it. Overview Brain Rowboat indexes email, meetings…
read the full rowboat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Archon or rowboat more popular?
Archon has 23,807 GitHub stars and rowboat has 18,126. Archon has the larger community by that measure.
Are Archon and rowboat free?
Both are open source. Archon is licensed under MIT and rowboat under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Archon and rowboat?
Archon is written in TypeScript and rowboat 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, Archon or rowboat?
Choose Archon if you want the larger community (23,807 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose rowboat if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.