head to head · open source
NvChad vs NetPad
NvChad has 28,512 GitHub stars, 2,215 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. NetPad has 2,278 stars, 132 forks, 63 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. NvChad leads on adoption by 1,152% (28,512 vs 2,278 stars). NvChad is written in Lua under GPL-3.0; NetPad is written in C# under MIT. NvChad has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, NetPad 6%. NetPad was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ide), 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
| NvChad | NetPad | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Lua | C# |
| Last push | 2026-07-03 | 2026-08-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 132 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick NvChad if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick NetPad if
- You want the NetPad feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and NetPad fits your workflow better
About NvChad
NvChad is a Neovim configuration framework written in Lua that provides a base configuration with polished defaults and a beautiful UI, aimed at developers who want a fast, preconfigured editor without assembling a configuration from scratch.
read the full NvChad overview →
About NetPad
NetPad is an open source, cross platform C editor and playground for developers who want to run C snippets instantly without creating and managing projects.
read the full NetPad overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NvChad or NetPad more popular?
NvChad has 28,512 GitHub stars and NetPad has 2,278. NvChad has the larger community by that measure.
Are NvChad and NetPad free?
Both are open source. NvChad is licensed under GPL-3.0 and NetPad under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NvChad and NetPad?
NvChad is written in Lua and NetPad in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, NvChad or NetPad?
Choose NvChad if you want the larger community (28,512 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose NetPad if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.