head to head · open source
mantis vs gentle-shell
mantis has 2,704 GitHub stars, 224 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. gentle-shell has 1,553 stars, 252 forks, 369 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mantis leads on adoption by 74% (2,704 vs 1,553 stars). mantis is written in Python under Apache-2.0; gentle-shell is written in TypeScript under MIT. mantis has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, gentle-shell 16%. gentle-shell 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, code-review), 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
| mantis | gentle-shell | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.7K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 224 | ⑂ 252 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick mantis if
- You weight community size — 2.7K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick gentle-shell if
- You want the gentle-shell feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and gentle-shell fits your workflow better
About mantis
Mantis: Portable Toolkit for Building Secure Software [!CAUTION] USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL. This suite is designed to generate and execute autonomously generated code that may be unstable or perform unexpected actions. USE THIS ONLY IN ISOLATED, RESTRICTED ENVIRONMENTS. Never run this suite on a machine with access to production systems, sensitive data, or internal networks. [!IMPORTANT] RESPONSIBLE USE AI models are non deterministic and can hallucinate findings or generate incorrect patches. All findings must be manually verified by a security expert before being reported. Do not mass file…
read the full mantis overview →
About gentle-shell
gentle shell™ Your coding agent for controlled development in the workspace you lead. Website · Quickstart · Docs · Wiki Your terminal can run an agent. Your workspace should help you lead it. gentle shell is your coding agent, bringing your changes, tasks, and engineering workflow together—built for Pi. One workspace. A coding agent you direct. A workflow you can inspect. BUILT FOR PI · Coding agent workspace · Focused agents · ODD + optional SDD ★ Star gentle shell on GitHub Built for Pi. Shaped by Gentle AI. Features gentle shell — Your coding agent, in the workspace you lead A complete workspace for the…
read the full gentle-shell overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is mantis or gentle-shell more popular?
mantis has 2,704 GitHub stars and gentle-shell has 1,553. mantis has the larger community by that measure.
Are mantis and gentle-shell free?
Both are open source. mantis is licensed under Apache-2.0 and gentle-shell under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between mantis and gentle-shell?
mantis is written in Python and gentle-shell in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, mantis or gentle-shell?
Choose mantis if you want the larger community (2,704 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose gentle-shell if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.