head to head · open source
Archon vs CodeMachine-CLI
Archon has 23,823 GitHub stars, 3,520 forks, 321 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. CodeMachine-CLI has 2,512 stars, 234 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. Archon leads on adoption by 848% (23,823 vs 2,512 stars). Archon is written in TypeScript under MIT; CodeMachine-CLI is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Archon has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, CodeMachine-CLI 9%. Archon was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (ai, automation, cli, developer-tools), 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
| Archon | CodeMachine-CLI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-02-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 234 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Archon if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick CodeMachine-CLI if
- You want the CodeMachine-CLI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and CodeMachine-CLI fits your workflow better
About Archon
Archon The first open source harness builder for AI coding. Make AI coding deterministic and repeatable. Archon is a workflow engine for AI coding agents. Define your development processes as YAML workflows planning, implementation, validation, code review, PR creation and run them reliably across all your projects. Like what Dockerfiles did for infrastructure and GitHub Actions did for CI/CD Archon does for AI coding workflows. Think n8n, but for software development. Why Archon? When you ask an AI agent to "fix this bug", what happens depends on the model's mood. It might skip planning. It might forget to run…
read the full Archon overview →
About CodeMachine-CLI
npm i g codemachine CodeMachine is an open source tool that orchestrates AI coding agents into repeatable, long running workflows. ⚡️ Every time you use an AI coding agent, you're running a workflow. Fix a bug? You ask questions, reproduce, analyze, plan, implement, test. Build a feature? You research, design, code, review. The workflow lives in your head. You guide the agent through it, step by step, session by session. But every time you start, you rebuild it from scratch. You re explain the process. You remember to ask the right questions. You manage when to clear context, when to push forward, when to loop…
read the full CodeMachine-CLI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Archon or CodeMachine-CLI more popular?
Archon has 23,823 GitHub stars and CodeMachine-CLI has 2,512. Archon has the larger community by that measure.
Are Archon and CodeMachine-CLI free?
Both are open source. Archon is licensed under MIT and CodeMachine-CLI under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Archon and CodeMachine-CLI?
Archon is written in TypeScript and CodeMachine-CLI in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Archon or CodeMachine-CLI?
Choose Archon if you want the larger community (23,823 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose CodeMachine-CLI if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.