head to head · open source
opcode vs dillinger
opcode has 22,401 GitHub stars, 1,724 forks, 332 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. dillinger has 8,286 stars, 1,156 forks, 157 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. opcode leads on adoption by 170% (22,401 vs 8,286 stars). opcode is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; dillinger is written in TypeScript under MIT. opcode has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, dillinger 14%. opcode 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
| opcode | dillinger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 8.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-06-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick opcode if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dillinger if
- You want the dillinger feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and dillinger fits your workflow better
About opcode
opcode is an open source desktop GUI application and toolkit for Claude Code that provides a visual command centre for projects, sessions, custom agents, Model Context Protocol servers, checkpoints, and API usage, aimed at developers who already work with Claude Code from the command line and want a graphical layer over it.
read the full opcode overview →
About dillinger
Dillinger is a free, MIT licensed, cloud native Markdown editor built on Next.js and the Monaco Editor, intended for developers, bloggers and writers who want focused writing in the browser with the option to sync finished documents to cloud storage they already use.
read the full dillinger overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is opcode or dillinger more popular?
opcode has 22,401 GitHub stars and dillinger has 8,286. opcode has the larger community by that measure.
Are opcode and dillinger free?
Both are open source. opcode is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and dillinger under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between opcode and dillinger?
opcode is written in TypeScript and dillinger 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, opcode or dillinger?
Choose opcode if you want the larger community (22,401 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose dillinger if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.