head to head · open source
nats-server vs Operational
nats-server has 20,989 GitHub stars, 2,025 forks, 472 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Operational has 476 stars, 18 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. nats-server leads on adoption by 4,309% (20,989 vs 476 stars). nats-server is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Operational is written in Vue under AGPL-3.0. nats-server has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Operational 4%. nats-server 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
| nats-server | Operational | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 476 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Vue |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 18 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nats-server if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Operational if
- You want the Operational feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- You evaluated both and Operational fits your workflow better
About nats-server
NATS is a simple, secure and performant communications system for digital systems, services and devices. NATS is part of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). NATS has over 40 client language implementations, and its server can run on premise, in the cloud, at the edge, and even on a Raspberry Pi. NATS can secure and simplify design and operation of modern distributed systems. [![License][License Image]][License Url] [![Build][Build Status Image]][Build Status Url] [![Release][Release Image]][Release Url] [![Slack][Slack Image]][Slack Url] [![Coverage][Coverage Image]][Coverage Url] [![Docker…
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About Operational
Website Docs Self hosting Pitch Vision Operational.co is a open source Event tracking tool. Monitor signups, webhooks, cronjobs and more. Currently Swipekit Facebook ad library tool and youtubedescriptionextractor are using this in production. 🔍 View Live Demo See Operational in action with a demo account receiving test events. ✨ Key Features Get push notifications for critical events straight to your phone, or on the webapp Monitor critical events Trigger webhooks via action buttons Understand complex events via contexts(events in events) Usable on mobile as a progressive web app(can receive push notifications…
read the full Operational overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is nats-server or Operational more popular?
nats-server has 20,989 GitHub stars and Operational has 476. nats-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are nats-server and Operational free?
Both are open source. nats-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Operational under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nats-server and Operational?
nats-server is written in Go and Operational in Vue. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, nats-server or Operational?
Choose nats-server if you want the larger community (20,989 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Operational if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.