head to head · open source
code-server vs fresh
code-server has 79,396 GitHub stars, 6,866 forks, 152 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. fresh has 8,996 stars, 342 forks, 369 open issues and last shipped today. code-server leads on adoption by 783% (79,396 vs 8,996 stars). code-server is written in TypeScript under MIT; fresh is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. code-server has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, fresh 4%. fresh was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ide), 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
| code-server | fresh | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 79K | ★ 9.0K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 342 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick code-server if
- You weight community size — 79K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick fresh if
- You want the fresh feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and fresh fits your workflow better
About code-server
code server is an MIT licensed TypeScript project from Coder that runs VS Code on a remote machine and serves the full editor in a browser, aimed at developers who want one consistent development environment reachable from any device.
read the full code-server overview →
About fresh
Fresh is a terminal based IDE and text editor written in Rust and released under the GPL 3.0 licence, aimed at developers who want the familiar editing experience of a graphical editor inside a terminal, with zero configuration required.
read the full fresh overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is code-server or fresh more popular?
code-server has 79,396 GitHub stars and fresh has 8,996. code-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are code-server and fresh free?
Both are open source. code-server is licensed under MIT and fresh under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between code-server and fresh?
code-server is written in TypeScript and fresh in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, code-server or fresh?
Choose code-server if you want the larger community (79,396 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose fresh if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.