head to head · open source
it-tools vs Onlook
it-tools has 40,640 GitHub stars, 5,432 forks, 821 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Onlook has 26,766 stars, 2,106 forks, 380 open issues and last shipped 27 days ago. it-tools leads on adoption by 52% (40,640 vs 26,766 stars). it-tools is written in Vue under GPL-3.0; Onlook is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. it-tools has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, Onlook 8%. it-tools was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (frontend), 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
| it-tools | Onlook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 27K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Vue | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-08-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.4K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick it-tools if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- 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 it-tools
it tools be self hostable web collection of small developer and IT utilities — converters, encoders, formatters, generators — built with Vue and TypeScript, shipped as Docker image, aimed at developers, IT people, and homelab owners who want those tools without shipping data to third party sites.
read the full it-tools overview →
About Onlook
Onlook is an open source, Apache 2.0 visual editor for Next.js and TailwindCSS projects that lets designers and developers edit a running React app in the browser while the underlying code changes in real time.
read the full Onlook overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is it-tools or Onlook more popular?
it-tools has 40,640 GitHub stars and Onlook has 26,766. it-tools has the larger community by that measure.
Are it-tools and Onlook free?
Both are open source. it-tools is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Onlook under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between it-tools and Onlook?
it-tools is written in Vue 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, it-tools or Onlook?
Choose it-tools if you want the larger community (40,640 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Onlook if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.