head to head · open source
odysseus vs Orkas
odysseus has 94,935 GitHub stars, 1,862 forks, 1,233 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Orkas has 7,723 stars, 482 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped yesterday. odysseus leads on adoption by 1,129% (94,935 vs 7,723 stars). odysseus is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; Orkas is written in JavaScript under MIT. odysseus has attracted 2% as many forks as stars, Orkas 6%. odysseus 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
| odysseus | Orkas | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 95K | ★ 7.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 482 |
| 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 Orkas if
- You want the Orkas feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Orkas 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 Orkas
Orkas Command a team of AI agents from one desktop chat — not one chatbot. Orkas is an open source, local first multi agent desktop app. Describe a goal; its Commander plans the work, handles the general parts itself, and coordinates specialist agents in parallel or in sequence. Nine specialist agents ship with the app , ready the moment you launch it, out of 30 in the marketplace. Bring your own model keys — Claude · OpenAI · Gemini · DeepSeek · Kimi · GLM · Qwen · MiniMax · Doubao. macOS · Windows · Linux. English · 简体中文 You: "Research the top 5 competitors, write it up, and turn it into a deck." Orkas: the…
read the full Orkas overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is odysseus or Orkas more popular?
odysseus has 94,935 GitHub stars and Orkas has 7,723. odysseus has the larger community by that measure.
Are odysseus and Orkas free?
Both are open source. odysseus is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Orkas under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between odysseus and Orkas?
odysseus is written in Python and Orkas in JavaScript. 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 Orkas?
Choose odysseus if you want the larger community (94,935 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Orkas if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.