head to head · open source
helix vs sidex
helix has 46,273 GitHub stars, 3,760 forks, 1,671 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. sidex has 2,954 stars, 238 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 24 days ago. helix leads on adoption by 1,466% (46,273 vs 2,954 stars). helix is written in Rust under MPL-2.0; sidex is written in TypeScript under MIT. helix has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, sidex 8%. helix was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (rust), 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
| helix | sidex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 3.0K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-08-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 238 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick helix if
- You weight community size — 46K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick sidex if
- You want the sidex feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and sidex fits your workflow better
About helix
Helix is a post modern modal text editor written in Rust that brings the selection first Kakoune editing model to the terminal, aimed at developers who want Vim style modal editing with language tooling built into the editor rather than assembled from a plugin stack.
read the full helix overview →
About sidex
SideX is a port of Visual Studio Code that replaces Electron with Tauri — a Rust backend running against the operating system's native webview — for developers who want the VS Code workbench, editor, terminal and Git tooling without the bundled browser that normally comes with them.
read the full sidex overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is helix or sidex more popular?
helix has 46,273 GitHub stars and sidex has 2,954. helix has the larger community by that measure.
Are helix and sidex free?
Both are open source. helix is licensed under MPL-2.0 and sidex under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between helix and sidex?
helix is written in Rust and sidex 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, helix or sidex?
Choose helix if you want the larger community (46,273 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose sidex if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.