head to head · open source
AstrBot vs ChatUI
AstrBot has 40,717 GitHub stars, 2,941 forks, 1,516 open issues and last shipped today. ChatUI has 4,448 stars, 427 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. AstrBot leads on adoption by 815% (40,717 vs 4,448 stars). AstrBot is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; ChatUI is written in TypeScript under MIT. AstrBot has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, ChatUI 10%. AstrBot was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (chatbot), 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
| AstrBot | ChatUI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-03-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 427 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AstrBot if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ChatUI if
- You want the ChatUI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and ChatUI fits your workflow better
About AstrBot
AstrBot is an open source all in one Agent chatbot platform written in Python and licensed under AGPL 3.0. It integrates with mainstream instant messaging applications and provides conversational AI infrastructure for individuals, developers, and teams. The project lives in the AI and machine learning ecosystem, specifically the AI interaction and interfaces category, and it has been developed over roughly four years. Its repository carries 40,504 stars and 2,915 forks, and its documented homepage is astrbot.app. Topics attached to the project include agent, ai, chatbot, chatgpt, discord, docker, gemini, gpt, lla…
read the full AstrBot overview →
About ChatUI
ChatUI is an MIT licensed UI design language and React component library for conversational interfaces, published on npm as @chatui/core and aimed at front end teams that need a ready chat surface instead of hand built message components.
read the full ChatUI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AstrBot or ChatUI more popular?
AstrBot has 40,717 GitHub stars and ChatUI has 4,448. AstrBot has the larger community by that measure.
Are AstrBot and ChatUI free?
Both are open source. AstrBot is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ChatUI under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AstrBot and ChatUI?
AstrBot is written in Python and ChatUI 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, AstrBot or ChatUI?
Choose AstrBot if you want the larger community (40,717 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ChatUI if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.