head to head · open source
headroom vs claude-skills
headroom has 78,773 GitHub stars, 6,155 forks, 643 open issues and last shipped yesterday. claude-skills has 29,256 stars, 4,059 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. headroom leads on adoption by 169% (78,773 vs 29,256 stars). headroom is written in Python under Apache-2.0; claude-skills is written in Python under MIT. headroom has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, claude-skills 14%. headroom was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (claude-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
| headroom | claude-skills | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 79K | ★ 29K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 4.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick headroom if
- You weight community size — 79K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick claude-skills if
- You want the claude-skills feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and claude-skills fits your workflow better
About headroom
Quickstart · Install · Proof · Agents · Docs · Discord · llms.txt AI agents / LLMs: read /llms.txt here, or fetch the live index · full docs blob . Headroom compresses everything your AI agent reads — tool outputs, logs, RAG chunks, files, and conversation history — before it reaches the LLM. Same answers, fraction of the tokens. Compression runs on your machine; no prompt or file content is sent anywhere to be compressed. 10,144 → 1,260 tokens. The same FATAL found. What it does Library — compress(messages) in Python or TypeScript, inline in any app. Proxy — headroom proxy port 8787 , zero code changes, any…
read the full headroom overview →
About claude-skills
Claude Code Skills & Plugins — Agent Skills for Every Coding Tool 388 production ready Claude Code skills, plugins, and agent skills for 13 AI coding tools. The most comprehensive open source library of Claude Code skills and agent plugins — also works with OpenAI Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, and 9 more coding agents. Reusable expertise packages covering engineering, DevOps, marketing (incl. AEO — Answer Engine Optimization for LLM citation), security (PreToolUse hooks), compliance, C level advisory (incl. founder mode CFO/CMO/CRO/CPO/COO/CHRO/CISO/GC/CDO/CAIO/CCO/VPE personas + 21 /cs: slash commands)…
read the full claude-skills overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is headroom or claude-skills more popular?
headroom has 78,773 GitHub stars and claude-skills has 29,256. headroom has the larger community by that measure.
Are headroom and claude-skills free?
Both are open source. headroom is licensed under Apache-2.0 and claude-skills under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between headroom and claude-skills?
headroom is written in Python and claude-skills in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, headroom or claude-skills?
Choose headroom if you want the larger community (78,773 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose claude-skills if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.