head to head · open source
argo-cd vs headlamp
argo-cd has 24,201 GitHub stars, 7,859 forks, 4,362 open issues and last shipped today. headlamp has 7,310 stars, 1,112 forks, 1,422 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. argo-cd leads on adoption by 231% (24,201 vs 7,310 stars). argo-cd is written in Go under Apache-2.0; headlamp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. argo-cd has attracted 32% as many forks as stars, headlamp 15%. argo-cd was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (devops), 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
| argo-cd | headlamp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 7.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.9K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick argo-cd if
- You weight community size — 24K 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 headlamp if
- You want the headlamp feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and headlamp fits your workflow better
About argo-cd
Argo CD is a declarative GitOps continuous delivery tool for Kubernetes. It lives in the cloud native ecosystem and is written in Go under the Apache 2.0 license. The project describes itself as a tool for declarative continuous delivery and continuous deployment, and its application definitions, configurations, and environments are expected to be declarative and version controlled. It sits in the Infrastructure and Operations category, specifically cloud infrastructure management, and it has been developed in the open for roughly nine years, with a large community footprint measured in tens of thousands of stars…
read the full argo-cd overview →
About headlamp
Headlamp is an Apache 2.0 licensed, vendor independent Kubernetes web UI written in TypeScript that runs either inside a cluster or locally as a desktop application, and it is built for platform engineers, cluster operators, and developers who need to inspect and change Kubernetes resources through a graphical interface.
read the full headlamp overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is argo-cd or headlamp more popular?
argo-cd has 24,201 GitHub stars and headlamp has 7,310. argo-cd has the larger community by that measure.
Are argo-cd and headlamp free?
Both are open source. argo-cd is licensed under Apache-2.0 and headlamp under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between argo-cd and headlamp?
argo-cd is written in Go and headlamp 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, argo-cd or headlamp?
Choose argo-cd if you want the larger community (24,201 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose headlamp if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.