head to head · open source
caveman vs prettier
caveman has 111,034 GitHub stars, 6,430 forks, 155 open issues and last shipped yesterday. prettier has 52,448 stars, 5,036 forks, 1,462 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. caveman leads on adoption by 112% (111,034 vs 52,448 stars). caveman is written in Go under Apache-2.0; prettier is written in JavaScript under MIT. caveman has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, prettier 10%. caveman was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| caveman | prettier | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 111K | ★ 52K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.4K | ⑂ 5.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick caveman if
- You weight community size — 111K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick prettier if
- You want the prettier feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and prettier fits your workflow better
About caveman
caveman is a free, open source skill and local proxy for AI coding agents that compresses what the agent writes and reads, cutting token usage by around 65% without touching code, commands, or error messages.
read the full caveman overview →
About prettier
Prettier is an opinionated code formatter for JavaScript, TypeScript, and web language developers who want one consistent style enforced automatically across a codebase.
read the full prettier overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More AI Assisted Coding projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Assisted Coding field.
Frequently asked questions
Is caveman or prettier more popular?
caveman has 111,034 GitHub stars and prettier has 52,448. caveman has the larger community by that measure.
Are caveman and prettier free?
Both are open source. caveman is licensed under Apache-2.0 and prettier under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between caveman and prettier?
caveman is written in Go and prettier in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, caveman or prettier?
Choose caveman if you want the larger community (111,034 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose prettier if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.