head to head · open source
headroom vs cli
headroom has 78,657 GitHub stars, 6,141 forks, 643 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cli has 32,064 stars, 1,978 forks, 131 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. headroom leads on adoption by 145% (78,657 vs 32,064 stars). headroom is written in Python under Apache-2.0; cli is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. headroom has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, cli 6%. headroom 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
| headroom | cli | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 79K | ★ 32K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.1K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick headroom if
- You weight community size — 79K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cli if
- You want the cli 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 cli fits your workflow better
About headroom
Quickstart · Install · Proof · Agents · Docs · Discord · llms.txt AI agents / LLMs: read /llms.txt here, or fetch the live index · full docs blob . Headroom compresses everything your AI agent reads — tool outputs, logs, RAG chunks, files, and conversation history — before it reaches the LLM. Same answers, fraction of the tokens. Compression runs on your machine; no prompt or file content is sent anywhere to be compressed. 10,144 → 1,260 tokens. The same FATAL found. What it does Library — compress(messages) in Python or TypeScript, inline in any app. Proxy — headroom proxy port 8787 , zero code changes, any…
read the full headroom overview →
About cli
gws One CLI for all of Google Workspace — built for humans and AI agents. Drive, Gmail, Calendar, and every Workspace API. Zero boilerplate. Structured JSON output. 40+ agent skills included. [!NOTE] This is not an officially supported Google product. ⬇️ Download the latest release for your OS gws doesn't ship a static list of commands. It reads Google's own Discovery Service at runtime and builds its entire command surface dynamically. When Google Workspace adds an API endpoint or method, gws picks it up automatically. [!IMPORTANT] This project is under active development. Expect breaking changes as we march…
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Frequently asked questions
Is headroom or cli more popular?
headroom has 78,657 GitHub stars and cli has 32,064. headroom has the larger community by that measure.
Are headroom and cli free?
Both are open source. headroom is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cli under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between headroom and cli?
headroom is written in Python and cli 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, headroom or cli?
Choose headroom if you want the larger community (78,657 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cli if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.