head to head · open source
dash vs Ghostwriter
dash has 24,418 GitHub stars, 2,317 forks, 480 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Ghostwriter has 1,916 stars, 257 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. dash leads on adoption by 1,174% (24,418 vs 1,916 stars). dash is written in Python under MIT; Ghostwriter is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. dash has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Ghostwriter 13%. dash 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
| dash | Ghostwriter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 257 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick dash if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Ghostwriter if
- You want the Ghostwriter feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Ghostwriter fits your workflow better
About dash
Dash is an open source Python framework for building analytical web applications, data apps, and dashboards without writing JavaScript, aimed at data scientists, analysts, and machine learning engineers who want to turn Python code into interactive browser interfaces.
About Ghostwriter
Ghostwriter is open source Python project management and reporting engine for offensive security work. It lives in information security, penetration testing, red team ecosystem. Category: Data & Analytics, Business Intelligence & Reporting. Stack: Python 3.13, Django 5.2. Topics: informationsecurity, penetration testing, red team, reporting.
read the full Ghostwriter overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is dash or Ghostwriter more popular?
dash has 24,418 GitHub stars and Ghostwriter has 1,916. dash has the larger community by that measure.
Are dash and Ghostwriter free?
Both are open source. dash is licensed under MIT and Ghostwriter under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between dash and Ghostwriter?
dash is written in Python and Ghostwriter in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, dash or Ghostwriter?
Choose dash if you want the larger community (24,418 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Ghostwriter if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.