head to head · open source
nats-server vs Workbench
nats-server has 20,745 GitHub stars, 1,962 forks, 472 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Workbench has 443 stars, 44 forks, 31 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. nats-server leads on adoption by 4,583% (20,745 vs 443 stars). nats-server is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Workbench is written in TypeScript under MIT. nats-server has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Workbench 10%. 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.
← all 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| nats-server | Workbench | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 443 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-06-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 44 |
| 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 Workbench if
- You want the Workbench feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Workbench fits your workflow better
About nats-server
nats server is the Go based, Apache 2.0 licensed server at the heart of NATS, a simple, secure and performant communications system for digital systems, services and devices, aimed at teams building distributed systems, microservices, and cloud, edge or connected vehicle deployments that need messaging without running heavyweight broker infrastructure.
read the full nats-server overview →
About Workbench
Workbench is an open source, MIT licensed dashboard for BullMQ that lets Node.js and Bun teams inspect, debug, and replay Redis backed job queues from inside their own backend, behind their own authentication.
read the full Workbench overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Messaging & Event Streaming projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Messaging & Event Streaming field.
Frequently asked questions
Is nats-server or Workbench more popular?
nats-server has 20,745 GitHub stars and Workbench has 443. nats-server has the larger community by that measure.
Are nats-server and Workbench free?
Both are open source. nats-server is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Workbench under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nats-server and Workbench?
nats-server is written in Go and Workbench 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, nats-server or Workbench?
Choose nats-server if you want the larger community (20,745 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Workbench if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.