head to head · open source
herdr vs it-tools
herdr has 47,915 GitHub stars, 3,844 forks, 337 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. it-tools has 41,112 stars, 5,559 forks, 821 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. herdr leads on adoption by 17% (47,915 vs 41,112 stars). herdr is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; it-tools is written in Vue under GPL-3.0. herdr has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, it-tools 14%. herdr was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (developer-tools), 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
| herdr | it-tools | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 41K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Vue |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 5.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick herdr if
- You weight community size — 48K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick it-tools if
- You want the it-tools feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- You evaluated both and it-tools fits your workflow better
About herdr
herdr herdr.dev · install · quick start · docs English · 简体中文 the runtime your coding agents live on. detach without stopping work — herdr keeps terminals running in a background server when you close the client or lose your SSH connection. after a server or machine restart, herdr restores the saved layout and can resume supported agent sessions; the original processes do not survive. session state → several machines, one window — keep local work and saved ssh machines together, with a combined agent list and independent reconnects. remote machines → never hunt for the stuck one — every pane is marked working…
read the full herdr overview →
About it-tools
Useful tools for developer and people working in IT. Try it! Functionalities and roadmap Please check the issues to see if some feature listed to be implemented. You have an idea of a tool? Submit a feature request! Self host Self host solutions for your homelab From docker hub: From github packages: Other solutions: Cloudron Tipi Unraid Contribute Recommended IDE Setup VSCode with the following extensions: Volar (and disable Vetur) TypeScript Vue Plugin (Volar). ESLint i18n Ally with the following settings: Type Support for .vue Imports in TS TypeScript cannot handle type information for .vue imports by…
read the full it-tools overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Frameworks & Platforms projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Frameworks & Platforms field.
Frequently asked questions
Is herdr or it-tools more popular?
herdr has 47,915 GitHub stars and it-tools has 41,112. herdr has the larger community by that measure.
Are herdr and it-tools free?
Both are open source. herdr is licensed under Apache-2.0 and it-tools under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between herdr and it-tools?
herdr is written in Rust and it-tools in Vue. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, herdr or it-tools?
Choose herdr if you want the larger community (47,915 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose it-tools if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.