head to head · open source
cap vs nightingale
cap has 22,381 GitHub stars, 1,918 forks, 339 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nightingale has 1,463 stars, 105 forks, 13 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. cap leads on adoption by 1,430% (22,381 vs 1,463 stars). cap is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; nightingale is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. cap has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, nightingale 7%. cap was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (react, rust), 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
| cap | nightingale | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 105 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick cap if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick nightingale if
- You want the nightingale feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and nightingale fits your workflow better
About cap
Cap open source screen recording sharing project for teams. Lives web desktop software ecosystem. Uses Rust TypeScript stack, Next.js web dashboard, desktop apps macOS Windows. Presents alternative Loom. Supports importing existing Loom videos.
About nightingale
Nightingale is a machine learning powered karaoke application that turns songs from a personal music library into scored karaoke sessions. It scans folders, Plex Media Server, Jellyfin server, Navidrome server, or a self hosted web library, then separates vocals, transcribes lyrics, and plays the result with synchronized highlighting and pitch scoring.
read the full nightingale overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is cap or nightingale more popular?
cap has 22,381 GitHub stars and nightingale has 1,463. cap has the larger community by that measure.
Are cap and nightingale free?
Both are open source. cap has no licence declared in this registry, and nightingale is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between cap and nightingale?
cap is written in Rust and nightingale 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, cap or nightingale?
Choose cap if you want the larger community (22,381 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose nightingale if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.