head to head · open source
odysseus vs mercury-agent
odysseus has 94,935 GitHub stars, 1,862 forks, 1,233 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mercury-agent has 3,768 stars, 388 forks, 60 open issues and last shipped yesterday. odysseus leads on adoption by 2,420% (94,935 vs 3,768 stars). odysseus is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; mercury-agent is written in TypeScript under MIT. odysseus has attracted 2% as many forks as stars, mercury-agent 10%. mercury-agent 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 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| odysseus | mercury-agent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 95K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 388 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick odysseus if
- You weight community size — 95K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick mercury-agent if
- You want the mercury-agent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and mercury-agent fits your workflow better
About odysseus
A self hosted AI workspace for chat, agents, research, documents, email, notes, calendar, and local model workflows. Quick Start · Setup Guide · Contributing · Roadmap Quick Start dev is the default branch and gets the newest changes first. Use main if you want the more curated branch. Open when the containers are healthy. The first admin password is printed in docker compose logs odysseus . Native installs, GPU notes, Windows/macOS instructions, HTTPS, and configuration live in the setup guide. Features Chat + Agents — local/API models, tools, MCP, files, shell, skills, and memory. Cookbook — hardware aware…
read the full odysseus overview →
About mercury-agent
Soul driven AI agent with permission hardened tools, token budgets, and multi channel access. Remembers what matters. Asks before it acts. Runs 24/7 from CLI, Telegram, or Web. 31 built in tools, Kanban boards, extensible skills, SQLite backed Second Brain memory. 🔖 Current Stable: v1.2.3 English 简体中文 Quick Start One liner install (no Node.js required) — downloads the latest standalone binary for your OS: Or via npm if you already have Node.js 20+: Or install the npm package globally: First run triggers the setup wizard (name, provider, optional Telegram). After setup, Mercury opens the Ink TUI startup screen…
read the full mercury-agent overview →
More in AI & Machine Learning
Related comparisons
More AI Interaction & Interfaces projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Interaction & Interfaces field.
Frequently asked questions
Is odysseus or mercury-agent more popular?
odysseus has 94,935 GitHub stars and mercury-agent has 3,768. odysseus has the larger community by that measure.
Are odysseus and mercury-agent free?
Both are open source. odysseus is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and mercury-agent under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between odysseus and mercury-agent?
odysseus is written in Python and mercury-agent 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, odysseus or mercury-agent?
Choose odysseus if you want the larger community (94,935 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose mercury-agent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.