head to head · open source
Neovim vs vim-config
Neovim has 103,000 GitHub stars, 7,189 forks, 1,900 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vim-config has 1,977 stars, 448 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Neovim leads on adoption by 5,110% (103,000 vs 1,977 stars). Neovim is written in Vim Script under a custom or non-standard licence; vim-config is written in Lua under Apache-2.0. Neovim has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, vim-config 23%. Neovim was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (neovim, nvim), 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
| Neovim | vim-config | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 103K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Vim Script | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.2K | ⑂ 448 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Neovim if
- You weight community size — 103K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Vim Script
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick vim-config if
- You want the vim-config feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and vim-config fits your workflow better
About Neovim
Neovim is a Vim fork text editor focused on extensibility and usability, built as a modern refactoring of Vim’s codebase. It lives in the developer tools ecosystem, specifically as a terminal based code editor that maintains compatibility with Vim’s core editing model while adding new capabilities.
read the full Neovim overview →
About vim-config
vim config is Rafael Bodill's personal Neovim configuration, a Lua based setup for developers who want a fast, language server driven editing environment and are willing to fork it and adapt it to their own habits.
read the full vim-config overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Neovim or vim-config more popular?
Neovim has 103,000 GitHub stars and vim-config has 1,977. Neovim has the larger community by that measure.
Are Neovim and vim-config free?
Both are open source. Neovim has no licence declared in this registry, and vim-config is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Neovim and vim-config?
Neovim is written in Vim Script and vim-config in Lua. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Neovim or vim-config?
Choose Neovim if you want the larger community (103,000 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose vim-config if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.