head to head · open source
AstrBot vs sim
AstrBot has 40,717 GitHub stars, 2,941 forks, 1,516 open issues and last shipped today. sim has 29,680 stars, 3,843 forks, 336 open issues and last shipped today. AstrBot leads on adoption by 37% (40,717 vs 29,680 stars). AstrBot is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; sim is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. AstrBot has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, sim 13%. sim was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ai, chatbot, gemini), 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 | sim | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 30K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 3.8K |
| 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 sim if
- You want the sim 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 sim 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 sim
Sim is an open source collaborative workspace for building, deploying, and monitoring AI agents and workflows. It lives in the TypeScript ecosystem and is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license, with a repository that has accumulated roughly 29,600 stars and 3,800 forks over its two year history. The project positions itself as a single surface where chat, workflows, tables, files, and knowledge coexist, whether accessed through a browser or a desktop application for macOS.
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Frequently asked questions
Is AstrBot or sim more popular?
AstrBot has 40,717 GitHub stars and sim has 29,680. AstrBot has the larger community by that measure.
Are AstrBot and sim free?
Both are open source. AstrBot is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and sim under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AstrBot and sim?
AstrBot is written in Python and sim 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 sim?
Choose AstrBot if you want the larger community (40,717 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose sim if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.