head to head · open source
LobeChat vs Swirl Search
LobeChat has 83,716 GitHub stars, 16,033 forks, 922 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Swirl Search has 3,051 stars, 292 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. LobeChat leads on adoption by 2,644% (83,716 vs 3,051 stars). LobeChat is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Swirl Search is written in Python under Apache-2.0. LobeChat has attracted 19% as many forks as stars, Swirl Search 10%. LobeChat 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
| LobeChat | Swirl Search | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 84K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 16K | ⑂ 292 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LobeChat if
- You weight community size — 84K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Swirl Search if
- You want the Swirl Search 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 Swirl Search fits your workflow better
About LobeChat
[![][image banner]][vercel link] LobeHub LobeHub organizes your agents into 7×24 operation. It hires, schedules, reports on your entire AI team. You stay in charge — without staying online. English · 简体中文 · [Official Site][official site] · [Changelog][changelog] · [Documents][docs] · [Blog][blog] · [Feedback][github issues link] [![][github release shield]][github release link] [![][docker release shield]][docker release link] [![][vercel shield]][vercel link] [![][discord shield]][discord link] [![][codecov shield]][codecov link] [![][github action test shield]][github action test link] [![][github action…
read the full LobeChat overview →
About Swirl Search
SWIRL Community Federated AI search and RAG across your stack, without moving your data Ask a question. SWIRL searches your apps live, ranks the results, and returns an answer with sources you can click through to. Data stays where it lives. No vector database, no ETL, no second copy to govern. Open source, Apache 2.0, running on your machine in about two minutes. ⚡ Quick Start · 🧱 What you get · 🆚 Community vs Enterprise · 🔌 Connectors · 🤝 Contribute This repository is SWIRL Community , Apache 2.0 and free to self host. There is also SWIRL Enterprise , which adds a three pass reranker, canonical answers, an…
read the full Swirl Search overview →
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More AI Interaction & Interfaces projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Interaction & Interfaces field.
Frequently asked questions
Is LobeChat or Swirl Search more popular?
LobeChat has 83,716 GitHub stars and Swirl Search has 3,051. LobeChat has the larger community by that measure.
Are LobeChat and Swirl Search free?
Both are open source. LobeChat has no licence declared in this registry, and Swirl Search is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between LobeChat and Swirl Search?
LobeChat is written in TypeScript and Swirl Search 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, LobeChat or Swirl Search?
Choose LobeChat if you want the larger community (83,716 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Swirl Search if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.