head to head · open source
nanobot vs Orkas
nanobot has 48,372 GitHub stars, 8,548 forks, 775 open issues and last shipped today. Orkas has 2,087 stars, 83 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped today. nanobot leads on adoption by 2,218% (48,372 vs 2,087 stars). nanobot is written in Python under MIT; Orkas is written in TypeScript under MIT. nanobot has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, Orkas 4%. nanobot was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai-agents), 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
| nanobot | Orkas | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.5K | ⑂ 83 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nanobot if
- You weight community size — 48K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Orkas if
- You want the Orkas feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Orkas fits your workflow better
About nanobot
nanobot is an ultra lightweight, open source, self hosted personal AI agent framework written in Python, aimed at individual developers and small teams who want to run their own agent through a browser WebUI, a terminal, or chat apps instead of renting a hosted assistant.
read the full nanobot overview →
About Orkas
Orkas is an open source, local first AI desktop application for macOS, Windows, and Linux in which a Commander LLM plans a goal and coordinates specialist sub agents from one chat, built for people who want to command a team of agents rather than talk to a single chatbot.
read the full Orkas overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nanobot or Orkas more popular?
nanobot has 48,372 GitHub stars and Orkas has 2,087. nanobot has the larger community by that measure.
Are nanobot and Orkas free?
Both are open source. nanobot is licensed under MIT and Orkas under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nanobot and Orkas?
nanobot is written in Python and Orkas 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, nanobot or Orkas?
Choose nanobot if you want the larger community (48,372 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Orkas if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.