head to head · open source
lighthouse vs rudder
lighthouse has 31,005 GitHub stars, 9,785 forks, 470 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. rudder has 722 stars, 94 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped yesterday. lighthouse leads on adoption by 4,194% (31,005 vs 722 stars). lighthouse is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; rudder is written in Scala under GPL-3.0. lighthouse has attracted 32% as many forks as stars, rudder 13%. rudder was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| lighthouse | rudder | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 722 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Scala |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.8K | ⑂ 94 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick lighthouse if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick rudder if
- You want the rudder feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Scala
- You evaluated both and rudder fits your workflow better
About lighthouse
Lighthouse Lighthouse analyzes web apps and web pages, collecting modern performance metrics and insights on developer best practices. Using Lighthouse Using Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools Using the Chrome extension Using the Node CLI CLI options Using the Node module Viewing a report Online Viewer Docs & Recipes Developing Lighthouse Setup Run Tests Docs Associated Products and Projects Lighthouse Integrations in Web Perf services Lighthouse Integrations in non Web Perf services Plugins Related projects FAQ How does Lighthouse work? Can I configure the lighthouse run? How does Lighthouse use network throttling…
read the full lighthouse overview →
About rudder
Infrastructure automation for security posture Website • Docs • Chat • Videos • Bug tracker X (Twitter) • Bluesky • Mastodon • LinkedIn What is Rudder? Rudder is a system infrastructure automation platform, dedicated to empowering IT operational teams to ensure and improve their security posture and fostering collaboration in Security Operations (SecOps). Features Security posture management: Automate critical IT operations to fortify infrastructure security: Automated systems inventory Patch management Vulnerability management System hardening and security standards compliance Configuration management…
read the full rudder overview →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More Compliance & Risk Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Compliance & Risk Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is lighthouse or rudder more popular?
lighthouse has 31,005 GitHub stars and rudder has 722. lighthouse has the larger community by that measure.
Are lighthouse and rudder free?
Both are open source. lighthouse is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rudder under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lighthouse and rudder?
lighthouse is written in JavaScript and rudder in Scala. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, lighthouse or rudder?
Choose lighthouse if you want the larger community (31,005 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rudder if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.