head to head · open source
monaco-editor vs LanguageTool
monaco-editor has 46,758 GitHub stars, 4,128 forks, 859 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. LanguageTool has 15,042 stars, 1,581 forks, 2,148 open issues and last shipped yesterday. monaco-editor leads on adoption by 211% (46,758 vs 15,042 stars). monaco-editor is written in JavaScript under MIT; LanguageTool is written in Java under LGPL-2.1. monaco-editor has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, LanguageTool 11%. LanguageTool 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
| monaco-editor | LanguageTool | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | LGPL-2.1 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.1K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick monaco-editor if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick LanguageTool if
- You want the LanguageTool feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-2.1 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and LanguageTool fits your workflow better
About monaco-editor
Monaco Editor is the fully featured code editor from VS Code, packaged as an npm library so that developers can embed the same editing experience inside their own browser based applications.
read the full monaco-editor overview →
About LanguageTool
LanguageTool is open source proofreading software for English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch, and more than 20 other languages. Its tagline describes it as an AI powered grammar checker for 30+ languages, while the repository description calls it a style and grammar checker for 25+ languages. The project lives in the natural language processing and productivity ecosystem, where it helps writers, editors, and applications detect errors that a simple spell checker cannot find.
read the full LanguageTool overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is monaco-editor or LanguageTool more popular?
monaco-editor has 46,758 GitHub stars and LanguageTool has 15,042. monaco-editor has the larger community by that measure.
Are monaco-editor and LanguageTool free?
Both are open source. monaco-editor is licensed under MIT and LanguageTool under LGPL-2.1. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between monaco-editor and LanguageTool?
monaco-editor is written in JavaScript and LanguageTool in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, monaco-editor or LanguageTool?
Choose monaco-editor if you want the larger community (46,758 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose LanguageTool if its feature set, stack or LGPL-2.1 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.