head to head · open source
Dyad vs Frontman
Dyad has 21,585 GitHub stars, 2,638 forks, 359 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Frontman has 701 stars, 52 forks, 236 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Dyad leads on adoption by 2,979% (21,585 vs 701 stars). Dyad is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Frontman is written in ReScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Dyad has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Frontman 7%. Dyad was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (artificial-intelligence, 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
| Dyad | Frontman | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 701 |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | ReScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 52 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Dyad if
- You weight community size — 22K 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 Frontman if
- You want the Frontman feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches ReScript
- You evaluated both and Frontman fits your workflow better
About Dyad
Dyad is a local, open source AI app builder for developer tools and AI assisted coding. It is positioned as a desktop alternative to hosted builders such as Lovable, v0, and Bolt, running on the user's own machine. The project is written in TypeScript and distributed through a public GitHub repository under a split license: code outside src/pro is Apache 2.0, while code inside src/pro is Functional Source License 1.1 Apache 2.0.
About Frontman
Frontman is an open source AI coding agent that runs inside your browser and edits your project's real source files from a live view of the running application, built for product managers, designers, and frontend developers who need small frontend fixes without opening an IDE.
read the full Frontman overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Dyad or Frontman more popular?
Dyad has 21,585 GitHub stars and Frontman has 701. Dyad has the larger community by that measure.
Are Dyad and Frontman free?
Neither Dyad nor Frontman declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Dyad and Frontman?
Dyad is written in TypeScript and Frontman in ReScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Dyad or Frontman?
Choose Dyad if you want the larger community (21,585 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Frontman if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.