head to head · open source
ComfyUI vs Sidekick
ComfyUI has 133,963 GitHub stars, 15,874 forks, 4,894 open issues and last shipped today. Sidekick has 3,313 stars, 148 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. ComfyUI leads on adoption by 3,944% (133,963 vs 3,313 stars). ComfyUI is written in Python under GPL-3.0; Sidekick is written in Swift under MIT. ComfyUI has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Sidekick 4%. ComfyUI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai), 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
| ComfyUI | Sidekick | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 134K | ★ 3.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-05-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 148 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ComfyUI if
- You weight community size — 134K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Sidekick if
- You want the Sidekick feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and Sidekick fits your workflow better
About ComfyUI
ComfyUI is a GPL 3.0 licensed Python and PyTorch node graph application, local API, and backend for running diffusion models across image, video, audio, 3D, and text workflows, built for visual professionals who want control over every model, parameter, and output, and for developers who embed those workflows into production pipelines.
read the full ComfyUI overview →
About Sidekick
Sidekick is a native macOS application that lets a user chat with a local large language model which can answer using the contents of files, folders, and websites on that Mac, without installing any other software.
read the full Sidekick overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ComfyUI or Sidekick more popular?
ComfyUI has 133,963 GitHub stars and Sidekick has 3,313. ComfyUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are ComfyUI and Sidekick free?
Both are open source. ComfyUI is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Sidekick under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ComfyUI and Sidekick?
ComfyUI is written in Python and Sidekick in Swift. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ComfyUI or Sidekick?
Choose ComfyUI if you want the larger community (133,963 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Sidekick if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.