head to head · open source
code-server vs phoenix
code-server has 79,546 GitHub stars, 6,881 forks, 152 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. phoenix has 2,998 stars, 205 forks, 266 open issues and last shipped yesterday. code-server leads on adoption by 2,553% (79,546 vs 2,998 stars). code-server is written in TypeScript under MIT; phoenix is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. code-server has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, phoenix 7%. phoenix 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 | phoenix | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 80K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-02 | 2026-10-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.9K | ⑂ 205 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick code-server if
- You weight community size — 80K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick phoenix if
- You want the phoenix feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and phoenix 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 phoenix
Phoenix is a free, open source text editor for web developers that runs in the browser and aims to make editing JavaScript, HTML, and CSS feel as approachable as playing a video game.
read the full phoenix overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is code-server or phoenix more popular?
code-server has 79,546 GitHub stars and phoenix has 2,998. code-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are code-server and phoenix free?
Both are open source. code-server is licensed under MIT and phoenix under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between code-server and phoenix?
code-server is written in TypeScript and phoenix 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, code-server or phoenix?
Choose code-server if you want the larger community (79,546 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose phoenix if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.