head to head · open source
cobalt vs TwinDesk
cobalt has 45,510 GitHub stars, 4,014 forks, 269 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. TwinDesk has 520 stars, 51 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. cobalt leads on adoption by 8,652% (45,510 vs 520 stars). cobalt is written in Svelte under AGPL-3.0; TwinDesk is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. cobalt has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, TwinDesk 10%. TwinDesk 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.
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Side by side
| cobalt | TwinDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 520 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Svelte | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-04-06 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 51 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick cobalt if
- You weight community size — 46K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Svelte
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick TwinDesk if
- You want the TwinDesk feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and TwinDesk fits your workflow better
About cobalt
best way to save what you love cobalt.tools 💬 community discord server 🐦 twitter 🦋 bluesky cobalt is a media downloader that doesn't piss you off. it's friendly, efficient, and doesn't have ads, trackers, paywalls or other nonsense. paste the link, get the file, move on. that simple, just how it should be. cobalt monorepo this monorepo includes source code for api, frontend, and related packages: api tree & readme web tree & readme packages tree it also includes documentation in the docs tree: how to run a cobalt instance how to protect a cobalt instance cobalt api instance environment variables cobalt api…
read the full cobalt overview →
About TwinDesk
TwinDesk All your computers and your phone, working as one desk. Screens, apps, files, clipboard, cameras, calls, texts, notifications, mouse and keyboard, shared between Mac, Windows, Linux and Android. Free and open source. No account, no cloud, no shared network needed. ⬇️ Download 2.3 · Website · What's new · Get started · How it works Your devices are good at their own jobs and bad at working together. TwinDesk fixes that. Put a Mac and a Windows PC side by side and use them with one mouse and keyboard. Open the PC's apps on the Mac. Turn an old laptop or your Android tablet into a second screen. Answer…
read the full TwinDesk overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is cobalt or TwinDesk more popular?
cobalt has 45,510 GitHub stars and TwinDesk has 520. cobalt has the larger community by that measure.
Are cobalt and TwinDesk free?
Both are open source. cobalt is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and TwinDesk under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between cobalt and TwinDesk?
cobalt is written in Svelte and TwinDesk 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, cobalt or TwinDesk?
Choose cobalt if you want the larger community (45,510 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose TwinDesk if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.