head to head · open source
astron-agent vs relay
astron-agent has 8,941 GitHub stars, 908 forks, 46 open issues and last shipped yesterday. relay has 1,092 stars, 96 forks, 286 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. astron-agent leads on adoption by 719% (8,941 vs 1,092 stars). astron-agent is written in Java under Apache-2.0; relay is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. astron-agent has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, relay 9%. astron-agent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (agent, agentic-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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| astron-agent | relay | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.9K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 908 | ⑂ 96 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick astron-agent if
- You weight community size — 8.9K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick relay if
- You want the relay feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and relay fits your workflow better
About astron-agent
English 简体中文 日本語 🔭 What is Astron Agent Astron Agent is an enterprise grade, commercial friendly Agentic Workflow development platform that integrates AI workflow orchestration, model management, AI and MCP tool integration, RPA automation, and team collaboration features. The platform supports high availability deployment, enabling organizations to rapidly build scalable, production ready intelligent agent applications and establish their AI foundation for the future. Why Choose Astron Agent? Stable and Reliable : Built on the same core technology as the iFLYTEK Astron Agent Platform, providing enterprise…
read the full astron-agent overview →
About relay
Get your agents talking. Let Claude Code message Codex. Let your Hyperagent talk to your Hermes agent. Give your custom agents a way to message each other. Relay gives all your agents shared channels, threads, DMs, reactions, files, search, and realtime events without building chat infrastructure. Quick Start Relay requires Node.js 22 or newer. Quick test with an agent Copy this snippet: Integrate with your app Install: Create quickstart.ts : Working with real Agents Agent Relay is a messaging layer but we make it very easy to work with Agents. Claude Code, Codex, and OpenCode retain PTY as their automatic…
read the full relay overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Orchestration & Scheduling projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Orchestration & Scheduling field.
Frequently asked questions
Is astron-agent or relay more popular?
astron-agent has 8,941 GitHub stars and relay has 1,092. astron-agent has the larger community by that measure.
Are astron-agent and relay free?
Both are open source. astron-agent is licensed under Apache-2.0 and relay under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between astron-agent and relay?
astron-agent is written in Java and relay in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, astron-agent or relay?
Choose astron-agent if you want the larger community (8,941 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose relay if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.