head to head · open source
ToolJet vs Budibase
ToolJet has 41,179 GitHub stars, 5,510 forks, 1,204 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Budibase has 28,376 stars, 2,236 forks, 276 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ToolJet leads on adoption by 45% (41,179 vs 28,376 stars). ToolJet is written in HTML under AGPL-3.0; Budibase is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. ToolJet has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, Budibase 8%. ToolJet was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (ai-app-builder, internal-tools, low-code, no-code), 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
| ToolJet | Budibase | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 28K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | HTML | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 2.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ToolJet if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Budibase if
- You want the Budibase feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Budibase fits your workflow better
About ToolJet
ToolJet is an open source platform for building internal tools: admin panels, dashboards, and operational apps that run on your existing databases, APIs, and SaaS systems. Build them by prompting. ToolJet AI turns a description into pages, queries, and components, and the coding agent you already use can do the same through ToolJet's MCP server. Agents build against ToolJet's real component and data contracts rather than emitting free form code, so what you get is an actual ToolJet app: one your team keeps editing in the visual builder, under the same permissions, environments, and version history as everything…
read the full ToolJet overview →
About Budibase
Budibase AI Agents that run your operations Budibase is an open source operations platform that saves engineers 100s of hours building Agents, Apps and Automations, securely. 🤖 🎨 🚀 Get started we host (Budibase Cloud) · Get started you host (Docker, K8s, DO) · Docs · Feature request · Report a bug · Support: Discussions ✨ Features Run your operations on one platform Handle requests, automate workflows, manage processes, and connect your business systems without stitching together multiple tools. Employees ask questions, request approvals, and report issues every day. Budibase agents understand these requests…
read the full Budibase overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ToolJet or Budibase more popular?
ToolJet has 41,179 GitHub stars and Budibase has 28,376. ToolJet has the larger community by that measure.
Are ToolJet and Budibase free?
Both are open source. ToolJet is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Budibase has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between ToolJet and Budibase?
ToolJet is written in HTML and Budibase 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, ToolJet or Budibase?
Choose ToolJet if you want the larger community (41,179 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Budibase if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.