head to head · open source
CodeEdit vs ccls
CodeEdit has 23,053 GitHub stars, 1,192 forks, 213 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. ccls has 4,090 stars, 280 forks, 194 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. CodeEdit leads on adoption by 464% (23,053 vs 4,090 stars). CodeEdit is written in Swift under MIT; ccls is written in C++ under Apache-2.0. CodeEdit has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, ccls 7%. CodeEdit 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
| CodeEdit | ccls | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 4.1K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Swift | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-08-18 | 2026-07-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 280 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick CodeEdit if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ccls if
- You want the ccls feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and ccls fits your workflow better
About CodeEdit
CodeEdit is a code editor for macOS. It is written in Swift, released under the MIT license, and described as a community project. The GitHub description says the app is open source and free forever. The project aims to provide a native editing experience for developers who work on software outside Apple platform projects.
read the full CodeEdit overview →
About ccls
ccls is an open source C, C++, and Objective C language server for developers who want cross references, code hierarchies, completion, and semantic highlighting inside an LSP compatible editor.
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Frequently asked questions
Is CodeEdit or ccls more popular?
CodeEdit has 23,053 GitHub stars and ccls has 4,090. CodeEdit has the larger community by that measure.
Are CodeEdit and ccls free?
Both are open source. CodeEdit is licensed under MIT and ccls under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CodeEdit and ccls?
CodeEdit is written in Swift and ccls in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, CodeEdit or ccls?
Choose CodeEdit if you want the larger community (23,053 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ccls if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.