head to head · open source
Harness vs 1backend
Harness has 38,378 GitHub stars, 3,397 forks, 106 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. 1backend has 2,346 stars, 120 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Harness leads on adoption by 1,536% (38,378 vs 2,346 stars). Harness is written in Go under Apache-2.0; 1backend is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. Harness has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, 1backend 5%. Harness 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
| Harness | 1backend | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-05-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.4K | ⑂ 120 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Harness if
- You weight community size — 38K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick 1backend if
- You want the 1backend feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and 1backend fits your workflow better
About Harness
Harness Open Source is an Apache 2.0, Go based developer platform that combines Git source control management, CI/CD pipelines, Gitspaces hosted development environments and artifact registries into one self hostable system for engineering teams that want end to end software delivery without stitching four separate products together.
read the full Harness overview →
About 1backend
1Backend is an AI native, self hosted microservices platform written in Go and released under AGPL 3.0. It lives in the ecosystem of Docker based backend frameworks, PaaS style platforms, on premise AI tooling, and distributed applications that combine microservices with microfrontends.
read the full 1backend overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Harness or 1backend more popular?
Harness has 38,378 GitHub stars and 1backend has 2,346. Harness has the larger community by that measure.
Are Harness and 1backend free?
Both are open source. Harness is licensed under Apache-2.0 and 1backend under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Harness and 1backend?
Harness is written in Go and 1backend in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Harness or 1backend?
Choose Harness if you want the larger community (38,378 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose 1backend if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.