head to head · open source
Lightpanda vs loopx
Lightpanda has 35,409 GitHub stars, 1,680 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped yesterday. loopx has 5,890 stars, 554 forks, 102 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lightpanda leads on adoption by 501% (35,409 vs 5,890 stars). Lightpanda is written in Zig under AGPL-3.0; loopx is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Lightpanda has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, loopx 9%. loopx 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.
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Side by side
| Lightpanda | loopx | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 35K | ★ 5.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Zig | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 554 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Lightpanda if
- You weight community size — 35K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Zig
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick loopx if
- You want the loopx feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and loopx fits your workflow better
About Lightpanda
Lightpanda is a headless browser built from scratch in Zig, designed specifically for AI agents and automation tasks. It is not a fork of Chromium or WebKit but a new implementation targeting performance and efficiency in automated web interactions. It lives in the browser automation ecosystem, competing with tools like Puppeteer and Playwright that typically rely on Chromium based headless modes.
read the full Lightpanda overview →
About loopx
LoopX is an open, provider neutral, local first control plane for long horizon AI agents that preserves objectives, gates, todos, evidence, quota, and handoffs across turns for developers and teams running durable, governed work on harnesses such as Codex, Claude Code, and Cursor.
read the full loopx overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Lightpanda or loopx more popular?
Lightpanda has 35,409 GitHub stars and loopx has 5,890. Lightpanda has the larger community by that measure.
Are Lightpanda and loopx free?
Both are open source. Lightpanda is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and loopx under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Lightpanda and loopx?
Lightpanda is written in Zig and loopx in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Lightpanda or loopx?
Choose Lightpanda if you want the larger community (35,409 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose loopx if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.