head to head · open source
lapce vs netbeans
lapce has 38,981 GitHub stars, 1,361 forks, 901 open issues and last shipped 27 days ago. netbeans has 3,146 stars, 944 forks, 1,081 open issues and last shipped yesterday. lapce leads on adoption by 1,139% (38,981 vs 3,146 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%. netbeans 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 | 2026-10-09 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 944 |
| 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 Lightning fast And Powerful Code Editor Lapce (IPA: /læps/) is written in pure Rust, with a UI in Floem. It is designed with Rope Science from the Xi Editor, enabling lightning fast computation, and leverages wgpu for rendering. More information about the features of Lapce can be found on the main website and user documentation can be found on GitBook. Features Built in LSP (Language Server Protocol) support to give you intelligent code features such as: completion, diagnostics and code actions Modal editing support as first class citizen (Vim like, and toggleable) Built in remote development support…
read the full lapce overview →
About netbeans
Apache NetBeans Apache NetBeans is an open source development environment, tooling platform, and application framework. Build status GitHub actions Apache Jenkins: Linux: Windows: License Status ( Apache Rat and ant verify libs and licenses ) Requirements Git Ant JDK 21 or above (to build and run NetBeans) Notes: NetBeans license violation checks are managed via the rat exclusions.txt file. Set JAVA HOME and ANT HOME appropriately or leave them undefined. Building NetBeans Build the default release config (See the cluster.config property.) Build the basic project (mainly Java features): Build the full project…
read the full netbeans overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lapce or netbeans more popular?
lapce has 38,981 GitHub stars and netbeans has 3,146. 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 (38,981 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.