head to head · open source
herdr vs termio
herdr has 47,557 GitHub stars, 3,813 forks, 337 open issues and last shipped yesterday. termio has 757 stars, 66 forks, 40 open issues and last shipped yesterday. herdr leads on adoption by 6,182% (47,557 vs 757 stars). herdr is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; termio is written in Swift under MIT. herdr has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, termio 9%. termio was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 7 topic tags (ai-agents, claude-code, cli, 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| herdr | termio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 757 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 66 |
| 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 termio if
- You want the termio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and termio 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 termio
The Terminal first Agentic Development Environment English 简体中文 繁體中文 日本語 한국어 Download for macOS • Website • Docs • Changelog • Discord What it is Terminal first ADE When agents write most of the code, the environment's job is to run them and to tell you which one needs you. Termio is that environment, and it's a real terminal because that's where the agents already live. It wires up each agent's own hooks on first launch. A session reports working, idle, or needs you — a dot in the sidebar, a menu bar tray that rings when one is blocked, the same signal on your phone. Claude Code, Codex…
read the full termio 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 termio more popular?
herdr has 47,557 GitHub stars and termio has 757. herdr has the larger community by that measure.
Are herdr and termio free?
Both are open source. herdr is licensed under Apache-2.0 and termio under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between herdr and termio?
herdr is written in Rust and termio in Swift. 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 termio?
Choose herdr if you want the larger community (47,557 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose termio if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.