head to head · open source
edict vs freeplane
edict has 16,900 GitHub stars, 1,769 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. freeplane has 4,362 stars, 498 forks, 453 open issues and last shipped yesterday. edict leads on adoption by 287% (16,900 vs 4,362 stars). edict is written in Python under MIT; freeplane is written in Java under GPL-2.0. edict has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, freeplane 11%. freeplane 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
| edict | freeplane | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 4.4K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-07 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 498 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick edict if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick freeplane if
- You want the freeplane feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and freeplane fits your workflow better
About edict
Edict is an MIT licensed Python orchestration system that runs multi agent LLM work through the Tang dynasty Three Departments and Six Ministries, splitting the job across eleven business roles plus one compatibility role so that planning, review, dispatch, and execution are handled by separate agents, and it is built for teams running OpenClaw that need every hand off between agents to be reviewable, auditable, and interruptible.
read the full edict overview →
About freeplane
Freeplane is a free and open source desktop application for mind mapping, concept mapping and information mapping, written in Java with OSGi and Java Swing. It lives in the Java desktop ecosystem and is distributed under the GPL 2.0 license, with source hosted on GitHub and binary downloads published through SourceForge. The project has been under development for roughly 14 years and sits in the business software category of project and work management tools.
read the full freeplane overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is edict or freeplane more popular?
edict has 16,900 GitHub stars and freeplane has 4,362. edict has the larger community by that measure.
Are edict and freeplane free?
Both are open source. edict is licensed under MIT and freeplane under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between edict and freeplane?
edict is written in Python and freeplane in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, edict or freeplane?
Choose edict if you want the larger community (16,900 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose freeplane if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.