head to head · open source
headroom vs opik
headroom has 78,922 GitHub stars, 6,169 forks, 643 open issues and last shipped yesterday. opik has 23,203 stars, 1,927 forks, 258 open issues and last shipped yesterday. headroom leads on adoption by 240% (78,922 vs 23,203 stars). headroom is written in Python under Apache-2.0; opik is written in Python under Apache-2.0. headroom has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, opik 8%. headroom was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (langchain, 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| headroom | opik | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 79K | ★ 23K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| 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 opik if
- You want the opik feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and opik 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 opik
English 简体中文 Español Français Deutsch 日本語 Opik: Open Source LLM Observability, Evaluation & AI Agent Tracing Opik is the open source LLM observability and evaluation platform for AI agent tracing, LLM evaluation, prompt management, and production monitoring. Built by Comet . Apache 2.0 licensed, free to self host the full platform, with 20,000+ GitHub stars. Website • Slack Community • Twitter • Changelog • Documentation Last updated: 2026 07 17 🚀 What is Opik? • ⚡ Quick Start • 📊 How Does Opik Compare? • ❓ FAQ • 🛠️ Opik Server Installation • 💻 Opik Client SDK • 📝 Logging Traces 🧑⚖️ LLM as a Judge • 🔍…
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More AI Development Platforms projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Development Platforms field.
Frequently asked questions
Is headroom or opik more popular?
headroom has 78,922 GitHub stars and opik has 23,203. headroom has the larger community by that measure.
Are headroom and opik free?
Both are open source. headroom is licensed under Apache-2.0 and opik under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between headroom and opik?
headroom is written in Python and opik in Python. 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 opik?
Choose headroom if you want the larger community (78,922 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose opik if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.