head to head · open source
lapce vs netbeans
lapce has 38,860 GitHub stars, 1,333 forks, 901 open issues and last shipped today. netbeans has 3,139 stars, 933 forks, 1,081 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lapce leads on adoption by 1,138% (38,860 vs 3,139 stars). lapce is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; netbeans is written in Java under Apache-2.0. lapce has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, netbeans 30%. lapce was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (code-editor), 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
| lapce | netbeans | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.3K | ⑂ 933 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick lapce if
- You weight community size — 39K 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 netbeans if
- You want the netbeans feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and netbeans fits your workflow better
About lapce
Lapce is an Apache 2.0 licensed, native graphical code editor written in pure Rust for developers who want fast text editing, built in language intelligence, Vim style modal editing, and remote development support inside one application rather than assembled from a base editor plus a stack of extensions.
read the full lapce overview →
About netbeans
Apache NetBeans is an Apache 2.0 open source development environment, tooling platform and application framework written in Java, aimed at developers who write and run Java applications and at teams that build desktop software on top of the NetBeans Platform.
read the full netbeans overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lapce or netbeans more popular?
lapce has 38,860 GitHub stars and netbeans has 3,139. lapce has the larger community by that measure.
Are lapce and netbeans free?
Both are open source. lapce is licensed under Apache-2.0 and netbeans under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lapce and netbeans?
lapce is written in Rust and netbeans in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, lapce or netbeans?
Choose lapce if you want the larger community (38,860 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose netbeans if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.