head to head · open source
Dify vs openless
Dify has 156,215 GitHub stars, 24,668 forks, 1,067 open issues and last shipped today. openless has 3,570 stars, 328 forks, 36 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Dify leads on adoption by 4,276% (156,215 vs 3,570 stars). Dify is written in TypeScript 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 9%. 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 | ★ 156K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 25K | ⑂ 328 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Dify if
- You weight community size — 156K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- 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 is an open source LLM application development platform built in TypeScript. It provides a visual interface for designing, testing, and deploying AI workflows, RAG pipelines, and agentic systems without writing extensive code. The platform lives in the generative AI development ecosystem and targets teams needing to move from prototype to production using consistent tooling across environments.
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 (ma…
read the full openless overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dify or openless more popular?
Dify has 156,215 GitHub stars and openless has 3,570. 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 TypeScript 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 (156,215 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.