head to head · open source
gitdiagram vs gitlab-mcp
gitdiagram has 18,325 GitHub stars, 1,498 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped today. gitlab-mcp has 2,053 stars, 358 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped today. gitdiagram leads on adoption by 793% (18,325 vs 2,053 stars). gitdiagram is written in TypeScript under MIT; gitlab-mcp is written in TypeScript under MIT. gitdiagram has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, gitlab-mcp 17%. gitlab-mcp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai, 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
| gitdiagram | gitlab-mcp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-20 | 2026-10-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 358 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick gitdiagram if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick gitlab-mcp if
- You want the gitlab-mcp feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and gitlab-mcp fits your workflow better
About gitdiagram
GitDiagram Visualize any codebase: turn any public or private GitHub repository into an interactive architecture diagram, or watch it explained in a one minute narrated video. AI agents can use it too, through the MCP server or the Markdown version of any diagram ( gitdiagram.com/owner/repo.md ). Try GitDiagram → · Or replace hub with diagram in any GitHub repository URL. Sponsored SMS, WhatsApp, and RCS through one API. Try Sent → New: explainer videos GitDiagram can now turn a repository into a narrated video of about a minute. The video starts with what the project is for and what people do with it, then…
read the full gitdiagram overview →
About gitlab-mcp
GitLab MCP Server English 한국어 简体中文 Português (Brasil) 📖 Documentation → Setup guides, environment variables, and the full tool reference live on the hosted docs site. Install @zereight/mcp gitlab with the recommended local personal access token setup. These commands use the same arguments as the Claude Code and Codex guides. Install the zereight mcp gitlab binary first with npm install g @zereight/mcp gitlab , or Homebrew brew tap zereight/gitlab mcp and brew install zereight/gitlab mcp/zereight mcp gitlab . Read the token without echo, then export it. The shell history keeps the variable name. @zereight/mcp…
read the full gitlab-mcp overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is gitdiagram or gitlab-mcp more popular?
gitdiagram has 18,325 GitHub stars and gitlab-mcp has 2,053. gitdiagram has the larger community by that measure.
Are gitdiagram and gitlab-mcp free?
Both are open source. gitdiagram is licensed under MIT and gitlab-mcp under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between gitdiagram and gitlab-mcp?
gitdiagram is written in TypeScript and gitlab-mcp in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, gitdiagram or gitlab-mcp?
Choose gitdiagram if you want the larger community (18,325 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose gitlab-mcp if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.