head to head · open source
KeystoneJS vs Rowy
KeystoneJS has 9,976 GitHub stars, 1,265 forks, 138 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Rowy has 6,841 stars, 557 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped 1.8 years ago. KeystoneJS leads on adoption by 46% (9,976 vs 6,841 stars). KeystoneJS is written in TypeScript under MIT; Rowy is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. KeystoneJS has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, Rowy 8%. KeystoneJS was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (cms), 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
| KeystoneJS | Rowy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 10.0K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-14 | 2024-11-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 557 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick KeystoneJS if
- You weight community size — 10.0K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Rowy if
- You want the Rowy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Rowy fits your workflow better
About KeystoneJS
KeystoneJS is an open source Node.js CMS and application framework written in TypeScript and licensed under the MIT License. It lives in the Node.js, GraphQL, and React ecosystem, and its GitHub description calls it a headless CMS for Node.js. The project addresses the need to build a custom back end without writing all of the common content management plumbing by hand.
read the full KeystoneJS overview →
About Rowy
Rowy is an open source low code backend platform that runs in the browser. It provides a spreadsheet like interface for managing data stored in Firestore, and it embeds a code editor for writing cloud functions in JavaScript or TypeScript. The project lives in the Firebase and Google Cloud Platform ecosystem, and it is written in TypeScript. It is commonly described as an Airtable style front end for a Firestore database, with automation built in.
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Frequently asked questions
Is KeystoneJS or Rowy more popular?
KeystoneJS has 9,976 GitHub stars and Rowy has 6,841. KeystoneJS has the larger community by that measure.
Are KeystoneJS and Rowy free?
Both are open source. KeystoneJS is licensed under MIT, and Rowy has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between KeystoneJS and Rowy?
KeystoneJS is written in TypeScript and Rowy 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, KeystoneJS or Rowy?
Choose KeystoneJS if you want the larger community (9,976 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Rowy if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.