head to head · open source
open-design vs layui
open-design has 96,970 GitHub stars, 11,267 forks, 1,090 open issues and last shipped today. layui has 30,573 stars, 7,354 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. open-design leads on adoption by 217% (96,970 vs 30,573 stars). open-design is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; layui is written in JavaScript under MIT. open-design has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, layui 24%. 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 | layui | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 97K | ★ 31K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 7.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick open-design if
- You weight community size — 97K 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 layui if
- You want the layui feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and layui 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 layui
Layui is a free, open source Web UI component library built on plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript that follows the browser's native development model, aimed at developers who need to assemble complex page interfaces without adopting a front end framework toolchain.
read the full layui overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is open-design or layui more popular?
open-design has 96,970 GitHub stars and layui has 30,573. open-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are open-design and layui free?
Both are open source. open-design is licensed under Apache-2.0 and layui under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between open-design and layui?
open-design is written in TypeScript and layui 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, open-design or layui?
Choose open-design if you want the larger community (96,970 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose layui if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.