head to head · open source
ActivePieces vs magic
ActivePieces has 25,369 GitHub stars, 4,427 forks, 573 open issues and last shipped yesterday. magic has 1,223 stars, 178 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ActivePieces leads on adoption by 1,974% (25,369 vs 1,223 stars). ActivePieces is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; magic is written in C# under MIT. ActivePieces has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, magic 15%. ActivePieces was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai-agents, mcp), 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
| ActivePieces | magic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 178 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ActivePieces if
- You weight community size — 25K 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 magic if
- You want the magic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and magic fits your workflow better
About ActivePieces
An open source replacement for Zapier Documentation 🌪️ Create a Piece 🖉 Deploy 🔥 Join Discord 🤯 Welcome to Activepieces All in one AI automation designed to be extensible through a type safe pieces framework written in TypeScript . When you contribute pieces to Activepieces they become automatically available as MCP servers that you can use with LLMs through Claude Desktop, Cursor or Windsurf! 🔥 Why Activepieces is Different: 💖 Loved by Everyone : Intuitive interface and great experience for both technical and non technical users with a quick learning curve. 🌐 Open Ecosystem: All pieces are open source…
read the full ActivePieces overview →
About magic
Instant SECURE Full Stack Apps and AI Agents Turn plain English into a working full stack app — database, secure API, business logic, and frontend — running on your own hardware , with zero lock in . An open source alternative to Lovable, Bolt, and Replit that gives you the whole backend, plus an MCP server that turns every endpoint into a tool for Claude, Cursor, or Codex. Read more about Hyperlambda. [ ] Run it in 60 seconds Then open localhost:5555 , point it at localhost:4444 , and log in with root / root . Point the API Wizard at your database, and it generates a complete, secured REST API — then extend it…
read the full magic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ActivePieces or magic more popular?
ActivePieces has 25,369 GitHub stars and magic has 1,223. ActivePieces has the larger community by that measure.
Are ActivePieces and magic free?
Both are open source. ActivePieces has no licence declared in this registry, and magic is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between ActivePieces and magic?
ActivePieces is written in TypeScript and magic in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ActivePieces or magic?
Choose ActivePieces if you want the larger community (25,369 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose magic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.