head to head · open source
AstrBot vs venom
AstrBot has 40,717 GitHub stars, 2,941 forks, 1,516 open issues and last shipped today. venom has 6,582 stars, 1,329 forks, 62 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. AstrBot leads on adoption by 519% (40,717 vs 6,582 stars). AstrBot is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; venom is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. AstrBot has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, venom 20%. AstrBot was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai, 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 | venom | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 6.6K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| 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 venom if
- You want the venom 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 venom 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 venom
Venom is an Apache 2.0 TypeScript framework that drives WhatsApp Web through Puppeteer, giving JavaScript and TypeScript developers a programmatic API for chatbots, customer service flows and message automation.
read the full venom overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AstrBot or venom more popular?
AstrBot has 40,717 GitHub stars and venom has 6,582. AstrBot has the larger community by that measure.
Are AstrBot and venom free?
Both are open source. AstrBot is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and venom under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AstrBot and venom?
AstrBot is written in Python and venom 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 venom?
Choose AstrBot if you want the larger community (40,717 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose venom if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.