head to head · open source
Dify vs openless
Dify has 160,251 GitHub stars, 25,336 forks, 1,067 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openless has 4,028 stars, 384 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Dify leads on adoption by 3,878% (160,251 vs 4,028 stars). Dify is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence; openless is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0. Dify has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, openless 10%. Dify was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (llm), 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
| Dify | openless | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 160K | ★ 4.0K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 384 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Dify if
- You weight community size — 160K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick openless if
- You want the openless feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and openless fits your workflow better
About Dify
Dify Cloud · Self hosting · Documentation · Dify edition overview Dify is an open source LLM app development platform. Its intuitive interface combines AI workflow, RAG pipeline, agent capabilities, model management, observability features (including Opik, Langfuse, and Arize Phoenix) and more, letting you quickly go from prototype to production. Here's a list of the core features: Quick start Before installing Dify, make sure your machine meets the following minimum system requirements: CPU = 2 Core RAM = 4 GiB The easiest way to start the Dify server is through Docker Compose. Before running Dify with the…
About openless
OpenLess Open source voice input for macOS, Windows & Linux Hold a hotkey, speak, and watch AI polished text stream straight to your cursor — in the writing style you choose. Website · Download · English / 中文 💬 Join our Discord · QQ Group 1078960553 Sponsors OpenLess is sustained by the generous support of its sponsors. 悠雾云数据 · Youwu Cloud Data (knin.net) Developers TRIP Author Chris233 Author / Maintainer bigsong Contributor / Tester HKLHaoBin Android author / Android Maintainer Cooper Contributor aeoform Contributor / Linux Maintainer jimmy54 macOS packaging & developer account OpenLess is a cross platform…
read the full openless overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dify or openless more popular?
Dify has 160,251 GitHub stars and openless has 4,028. Dify has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dify and openless free?
Both are open source. Dify has no licence declared in this registry, and openless is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Dify and openless?
Dify is written in Python and openless in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Dify or openless?
Choose Dify if you want the larger community (160,251 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose openless if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.