head to head · open source
herdr vs Onlook
herdr has 50,277 GitHub stars, 4,063 forks, 337 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Onlook has 27,169 stars, 2,144 forks, 380 open issues and last shipped 22 days ago. herdr leads on adoption by 85% (50,277 vs 27,169 stars). herdr is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; Onlook is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. herdr has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Onlook 8%. herdr was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (ai, claude-code, codex), 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
| herdr | Onlook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 50K | ★ 27K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-07 | 2026-10-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.1K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick herdr if
- You weight community size — 50K 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 Onlook if
- You want the Onlook 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 Onlook 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 Onlook
Onlook The design tool for AI native designers — now in early access. Onlook makes designing on top of your codebase effortless. Craft exceptional experiences with AI in code. → Join the waitlist 👨💻👩💻👨💻 We're hiring engineers in SF! 👩💻👨💻👩💻 View Demo · Report Bug · Request Feature [![Discord][discord shield]][discord url] [![LinkedIn][linkedin shield]][linkedin url] [![Twitter][twitter shield]][twitter url] 中文 Español Deutsch français Português Русский 日本語 한국어 This is the open source visual editor that started Onlook (Next.js + Tailwind). The hosted product we're building next, for AI native…
read the full Onlook overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is herdr or Onlook more popular?
herdr has 50,277 GitHub stars and Onlook has 27,169. herdr has the larger community by that measure.
Are herdr and Onlook free?
Both are open source. herdr is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Onlook under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between herdr and Onlook?
herdr is written in Rust and Onlook 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, herdr or Onlook?
Choose herdr if you want the larger community (50,277 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Onlook if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.