head to head · open source
nanobot vs AstrBot
nanobot has 48,274 GitHub stars, 8,533 forks, 775 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AstrBot has 40,628 stars, 2,925 forks, 1,516 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nanobot leads on adoption by 19% (48,274 vs 40,628 stars). nanobot is written in Python under MIT; AstrBot is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. nanobot has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, AstrBot 7%. nanobot was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (chatbot, mcp), 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
| nanobot | AstrBot | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 41K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.5K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nanobot if
- You weight community size — 48K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick AstrBot if
- You want the AstrBot feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and AstrBot fits your workflow better
About nanobot
nanobot is an ultra lightweight, open source, self hosted personal AI agent framework written in Python, aimed at individual developers and small teams who want to run their own agent through a browser WebUI, a terminal, or chat apps instead of renting a hosted assistant.
read the full nanobot overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nanobot or AstrBot more popular?
nanobot has 48,274 GitHub stars and AstrBot has 40,628. nanobot has the larger community by that measure.
Are nanobot and AstrBot free?
Both are open source. nanobot is licensed under MIT and AstrBot under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nanobot and AstrBot?
nanobot is written in Python and AstrBot in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nanobot or AstrBot?
Choose nanobot if you want the larger community (48,274 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose AstrBot if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.