head to head · open source
opcode vs fresh
opcode has 22,434 GitHub stars, 1,706 forks, 332 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. fresh has 9,399 stars, 372 forks, 369 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. opcode leads on adoption by 139% (22,434 vs 9,399 stars). opcode is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; fresh is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. opcode has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, fresh 4%. fresh 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 | fresh | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 9.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 372 |
| 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 fresh if
- You want the fresh feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and fresh fits your workflow better
About opcode
opcode A powerful GUI app and Toolkit for Claude Code Create custom agents, manage interactive Claude Code sessions, run secure background agents, and more. [!TIP] ⭐ Star the repo and follow @getAsterisk on X for early access to asteria swe v0 . [!NOTE] This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Anthropic. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic, PBC. This is an independent developer project using Claude. 🌟 Overview opcode is a powerful desktop application that transforms how you interact with Claude Code. Built with Tauri 2, it provides a beautiful GUI for managing your Claude Code sessions…
read the full opcode overview →
About fresh
Fresh A modern, full featured terminal text editor, with zero configuration . Familiar keybindings, mouse support, and IDE level features — no learning curve required. Official Website · Documentation · Discord · Contributing Quick Install: curl fsSL sh Fresh brings the intuitive UX of VS Code and Sublime Text to the terminal. Standard keybindings, full mouse support, menus, and a command palette — everything works the way you'd expect, right out of the box. No modes, no memorizing shortcuts. Built for real world performance: Fresh handles multi gigabyte files with negligible memory overhead and delivers…
read the full fresh overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is opcode or fresh more popular?
opcode has 22,434 GitHub stars and fresh has 9,399. opcode has the larger community by that measure.
Are opcode and fresh free?
Both are open source. opcode is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and fresh under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between opcode and fresh?
opcode is written in TypeScript and fresh in Rust. 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 fresh?
Choose opcode if you want the larger community (22,434 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose fresh if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.