head to head · open source
Dragonfly vs Butterfly
Dragonfly has 31,617 GitHub stars, 1,265 forks, 308 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Butterfly has 2,024 stars, 151 forks, 47 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Dragonfly leads on adoption by 1,462% (31,617 vs 2,024 stars). Dragonfly is written in C++ under a custom or non-standard licence; Butterfly is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0. Dragonfly has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Butterfly 7%. Dragonfly was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Dragonfly | Butterfly | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 151 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Dragonfly if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Butterfly if
- You want the Butterfly feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and Butterfly fits your workflow better
About Dragonfly
Dragonfly is a C++ in memory data store that speaks the Redis and Memcached APIs, built for teams that want more throughput and lower resource use from an existing cache or key value workload without changing application code.
read the full Dragonfly overview →
About Butterfly
Butterfly is a free, open source, cross platform note taking and drawing application built with Flutter and Dart, made for people who think visually and want an endless workspace for handwritten, typed, and imported content on desktop and Android.
read the full Butterfly overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dragonfly or Butterfly more popular?
Dragonfly has 31,617 GitHub stars and Butterfly has 2,024. Dragonfly has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dragonfly and Butterfly free?
Both are open source. Dragonfly has no licence declared in this registry, and Butterfly is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Dragonfly and Butterfly?
Dragonfly is written in C++ and Butterfly in Dart. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Dragonfly or Butterfly?
Choose Dragonfly if you want the larger community (31,617 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Butterfly if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.