head to head · open source
astron-rpa vs magic
astron-rpa has 5,542 GitHub stars, 598 forks, 55 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. magic has 1,192 stars, 176 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. astron-rpa leads on adoption by 365% (5,542 vs 1,192 stars). astron-rpa is written in Python under Apache-2.0; magic is written in C# under MIT. astron-rpa has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, magic 15%. magic was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (ai, llm, low-code, 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
| astron-rpa | magic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.5K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 598 | ⑂ 176 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick astron-rpa if
- You weight community size — 5.5K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick magic if
- You want the magic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and magic fits your workflow better
About astron-rpa
AstronRPA is an open source, enterprise grade Robotic Process Automation desktop application written in Java and released under the Apache 2.0 license. It provides a visual designer for low code and no code development, letting users build automation workflows through drag and drop rather than hand written scripts. The project lives in the iflytek/astron rpa repository and sits in the broader iFlytek Astron ecosystem, alongside Astron Agent, which serves as its native agent platform. Topics attached to the repository — agent, ai, llm, mcp, low code, no code, enterprise, data privacy, and on premise — describe tha…
read the full astron-rpa overview →
About magic
Magic is an MIT licensed low code platform and MCP server, written in C for .NET 10, that turns plain English into a working full stack application — database, secure API, business logic and frontend — running on your own hardware with no vendor lock in.
read the full magic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is astron-rpa or magic more popular?
astron-rpa has 5,542 GitHub stars and magic has 1,192. astron-rpa has the larger community by that measure.
Are astron-rpa and magic free?
Both are open source. astron-rpa is licensed under Apache-2.0 and magic under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between astron-rpa and magic?
astron-rpa is written in Python and magic in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, astron-rpa or magic?
Choose astron-rpa if you want the larger community (5,542 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose magic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.