head to head · open source
NvChad vs opcode
NvChad has 28,530 GitHub stars, 2,212 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. opcode has 22,434 stars, 1,706 forks, 332 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. NvChad leads on adoption by 27% (28,530 vs 22,434 stars). NvChad is written in Lua under GPL-3.0; opcode is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. NvChad has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, opcode 8%. NvChad 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 | opcode | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 22K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Lua | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-24 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| 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 opcode if
- You want the opcode feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and opcode fits your workflow better
About NvChad
NvChad Home • Install • Contribute • Support • Features Showcase What is it? NvChad is a neovim config written in lua aiming to provide a base configuration with very beautiful UI and blazing fast startuptime (around 0.02 secs 0.07 secs). We tweak UI plugins such as telescope, nvim tree etc well to provide an aesthetic UI experience. Lazy loading is done 93% of the time meaning that plugins will not be loaded by default, they will be loaded only when required also at specific commands, events etc. This lowers the startuptime and it was like 0.07 secs tested on an old pentium machine 1.4ghz + 4gb ram & HDD…
read the full NvChad overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NvChad or opcode more popular?
NvChad has 28,530 GitHub stars and opcode has 22,434. NvChad has the larger community by that measure.
Are NvChad and opcode free?
Both are open source. NvChad is licensed under GPL-3.0 and opcode under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NvChad and opcode?
NvChad is written in Lua and opcode 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, NvChad or opcode?
Choose NvChad if you want the larger community (28,530 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose opcode if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.