head to head · open source
Invidious vs neko
Invidious has 24,469 GitHub stars, 2,746 forks, 480 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. neko has 22,315 stars, 1,628 forks, 151 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Invidious leads on adoption by 10% (24,469 vs 22,315 stars). Invidious is written in Crystal under AGPL-3.0; neko is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Invidious has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, neko 7%. Invidious was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Invidious | neko | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 22K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Crystal | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Invidious if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Crystal
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick neko if
- You want the neko feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and neko fits your workflow better
About Invidious
Invidious is an open source, AGPL 3.0 alternative front end to YouTube, written in Crystal, aimed at people who want to watch videos without ads, tracking, or a Google account.
read the full Invidious overview →
About neko
Neko is a self hosted virtual browser that runs inside a Docker container and streams its desktop to several people at once over WebRTC, built for developers testing web applications, privacy conscious users, and teams who want to browse, watch or present together in one shared session.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Invidious or neko more popular?
Invidious has 24,469 GitHub stars and neko has 22,315. Invidious has the larger community by that measure.
Are Invidious and neko free?
Both are open source. Invidious is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and neko under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Invidious and neko?
Invidious is written in Crystal and neko in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Invidious or neko?
Choose Invidious if you want the larger community (24,469 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose neko if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.