head to head · open source
bb vs netbeans
bb has 3,946 GitHub stars, 553 forks, 463 open issues and last shipped yesterday. netbeans has 3,139 stars, 936 forks, 1,081 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bb leads on adoption by 26% (3,946 vs 3,139 stars). bb is written in TypeScript under MIT; netbeans is written in Java under Apache-2.0. bb has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, netbeans 30%. bb was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ide), 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
| bb | netbeans | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.9K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-26 | 2026-09-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 553 | ⑂ 936 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick bb if
- You weight community size — 3.9K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick netbeans if
- You want the netbeans feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and netbeans fits your workflow better
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.
About netbeans
Apache NetBeans is an Apache 2.0 open source development environment, tooling platform and application framework written in Java, aimed at developers who write and run Java applications and at teams that build desktop software on top of the NetBeans Platform.
read the full netbeans overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is bb or netbeans more popular?
bb has 3,946 GitHub stars and netbeans has 3,139. bb has the larger community by that measure.
Are bb and netbeans free?
Both are open source. bb is licensed under MIT and netbeans under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between bb and netbeans?
bb is written in TypeScript and netbeans in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, bb or netbeans?
Choose bb if you want the larger community (3,946 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose netbeans if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.