head to head · open source
ComfyUI vs Swirl Search
ComfyUI has 144,907 GitHub stars, 17,244 forks, 4,894 open issues and last shipped today. Swirl Search has 3,050 stars, 292 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. ComfyUI leads on adoption by 4,651% (144,907 vs 3,050 stars). ComfyUI is written in Python under GPL-3.0; Swirl Search is written in Python under Apache-2.0. ComfyUI has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Swirl Search 10%. ComfyUI was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (python), 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 | Swirl Search | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 145K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 17K | ⑂ 292 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ComfyUI if
- You weight community size — 145K 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 Swirl Search if
- You want the Swirl Search feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Swirl Search fits your workflow better
About ComfyUI
ComfyUI The most powerful and modular AI engine for content creation. [![Website][website shield]][website url] [![Dynamic JSON Badge][discord shield]][discord url] [![Twitter][twitter shield]][twitter url] [![Matrix][matrix shield]][matrix url] [![][github release shield]][github release link] [![][github release date shield]][github release link] [![][github downloads shield]][github downloads link] [![][github downloads latest shield]][github downloads link] [matrix shield]: [matrix url]: [website shield]: [website url]: [discord shield]: [discord url]: [twitter shield]: [twitter url]: [github release…
read the full ComfyUI overview →
About Swirl Search
SWIRL Community Federated AI search and RAG across your stack, without moving your data Ask a question. SWIRL searches your apps live, ranks the results, and returns an answer with sources you can click through to. Data stays where it lives. No vector database, no ETL, no second copy to govern. Open source, Apache 2.0, running on your machine in about two minutes. ⚡ Quick Start · 🧱 What you get · 🆚 Community vs Enterprise · 🔌 Connectors · 🤝 Contribute This repository is SWIRL Community , Apache 2.0 and free to self host. There is also SWIRL Enterprise , which adds a three pass reranker, canonical answers, an…
read the full Swirl Search overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ComfyUI or Swirl Search more popular?
ComfyUI has 144,907 GitHub stars and Swirl Search has 3,050. ComfyUI has the larger community by that measure.
Are ComfyUI and Swirl Search free?
Both are open source. ComfyUI is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Swirl Search under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ComfyUI and Swirl Search?
ComfyUI is written in Python and Swirl Search in Python. 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 Swirl Search?
Choose ComfyUI if you want the larger community (144,907 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Swirl Search if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.