head to head · open source
lean-ctx vs coi
lean-ctx has 3,948 GitHub stars, 365 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped yesterday. coi has 787 stars, 69 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped today. lean-ctx leads on adoption by 402% (3,948 vs 787 stars). lean-ctx is written in Rust under Apache-2.0; coi is written in Go under MIT. lean-ctx has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, coi 9%. coi was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (claude-code), 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
| lean-ctx | coi | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.9K | ★ 787 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-14 | 2026-11-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 365 | ⑂ 69 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick lean-ctx if
- You weight community size — 3.9K 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 coi if
- You want the coi feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and coi fits your workflow better
About lean-ctx
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read the full lean-ctx overview →
About coi
Coi (Code on Incus) Give the agent a machine. Just not yours. coi runs your AI coding tool (Claude Code, Codex, opencode, pi, omp) inside its own isolated Linux system a full OS container with root access, systemd, Docker, and the freedom to install anything. The agent works like it would on a real server but it can't touch your host, can't see your credentials, and if it does something dangerous, coi pauses or kills the container on its own. One command drops you into a coding session. Your project is mounted, file permissions just work, and your SSH keys, tokens, and environment variables never enter the…
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Frequently asked questions
Is lean-ctx or coi more popular?
lean-ctx has 3,948 GitHub stars and coi has 787. lean-ctx has the larger community by that measure.
Are lean-ctx and coi free?
Both are open source. lean-ctx is licensed under Apache-2.0 and coi under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lean-ctx and coi?
lean-ctx is written in Rust and coi 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, lean-ctx or coi?
Choose lean-ctx if you want the larger community (3,948 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose coi if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.