head to head · open source
archify vs bb
archify has 72,193 GitHub stars, 4,868 forks, 134 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bb has 3,946 stars, 553 forks, 463 open issues and last shipped yesterday. archify leads on adoption by 1,730% (72,193 vs 3,946 stars). archify is written in JavaScript under MIT; bb is written in TypeScript under MIT. archify has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, bb 14%. bb was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (codex), 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
| archify | bb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 72K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-26 | 2026-09-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.9K | ⑂ 553 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick archify if
- You weight community size — 72K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick bb if
- You want the bb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and bb fits your workflow better
About archify
Archify is an MIT licensed agent skill and Node.js rendering and validation system that turns a codebase or a written system description into a polished, interactive, self contained HTML system map, and it is built for developers and platform teams working inside coding agents such as Cursor, Claude Code, Codex CLI, and OpenCode.
read the full archify overview →
About bb
bb is the agent IDE that builds itself: an MIT licensed TypeScript application that lets developers drive coding agents from a desktop app, a web app, a CLI, or an HTTP API, and extend the tool itself while it runs.
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Frequently asked questions
Is archify or bb more popular?
archify has 72,193 GitHub stars and bb has 3,946. archify has the larger community by that measure.
Are archify and bb free?
Both are open source. archify is licensed under MIT and bb under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between archify and bb?
archify is written in JavaScript and bb 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, archify or bb?
Choose archify if you want the larger community (72,193 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose bb if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.