head to head · open source
open-design vs cadcraft
open-design has 100,551 GitHub stars, 11,583 forks, 1,090 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cadcraft has 2,508 stars, 1,150 forks, 90 open issues and last shipped yesterday. open-design leads on adoption by 3,909% (100,551 vs 2,508 stars). open-design is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; cadcraft is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. open-design has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, cadcraft 46%. open-design 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
| open-design | cadcraft | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 101K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick open-design if
- You weight community size — 101K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cadcraft if
- You want the cadcraft feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and cadcraft fits your workflow better
About open-design
OpenDesign is an open source, local first desktop design application for macOS and Windows that turns the coding agent already installed on a developer's machine into the design engine, producing prototypes, dashboards, decks, images, and motion graphics as real files exported to HTML, PDF, PPTX, and MP4.
read the full open-design overview →
About cadcraft
CADCraft is an open source, clean room reimplementation of Autodesk AutoCAD written in pure Rust, aimed at drafters and developers who want the familiar CAD command line workflow without a commercial licence.
read the full cadcraft overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is open-design or cadcraft more popular?
open-design has 100,551 GitHub stars and cadcraft has 2,508. open-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are open-design and cadcraft free?
Both are open source. open-design is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cadcraft under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between open-design and cadcraft?
open-design is written in TypeScript and cadcraft 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, open-design or cadcraft?
Choose open-design if you want the larger community (100,551 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cadcraft if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.