head to head · open source
Orca vs Grok Build
Orca has 71,017 GitHub stars, 4,642 forks, 5,801 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Grok Build has 26,820 stars, 5,048 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Orca leads on adoption by 165% (71,017 vs 26,820 stars). Orca is written in TypeScript under MIT; Grok Build is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Orca has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Grok Build 19%. Orca 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
| Orca | Grok Build | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 27K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.6K | ⑂ 5.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Orca if
- You weight community size — 71K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Grok Build if
- You want the Grok Build feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Grok Build fits your workflow better
About Orca
Orca is an agent desktop environment (ADE) that runs multiple AI coding agents in parallel, each in its own isolated git worktree. It unifies workflow, monitoring, and collaboration around AI assisted coding across desktop, mobile, and remote runtimes. Built for developers who rely on several AI coding tools simultaneously, Orca eliminates context switching by tracking all agents and their outputs in one place.
About Grok Build
Grok Build is a terminal based AI coding agent developed by SpaceXAI, distributed as the grok CLI/TUI. It operates as a fullscreen, mouse interactive interface that integrates with the user’s codebase to perform code editing, command execution, web search, and long running task orchestration. The project lives in the Rust ecosystem and is licensed under Apache 2.0.
read the full Grok Build overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Orca or Grok Build more popular?
Orca has 71,017 GitHub stars and Grok Build has 26,820. Orca has the larger community by that measure.
Are Orca and Grok Build free?
Both are open source. Orca is licensed under MIT and Grok Build under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Orca and Grok Build?
Orca is written in TypeScript and Grok Build in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Orca or Grok Build?
Choose Orca if you want the larger community (71,017 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Grok Build if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.