head to head · open source
open-design vs Wave
open-design has 100,617 GitHub stars, 11,585 forks, 1,090 open issues and last shipped today. Wave has 2,398 stars, 72 forks, 11 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. open-design leads on adoption by 4,096% (100,617 vs 2,398 stars). open-design is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Wave is written in Swift under MIT. open-design has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Wave 3%. 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 | Wave | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 101K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-10-12 | 2026-03-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 72 |
| 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 Wave if
- You want the Wave feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and Wave 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 Wave
Wave is a spring based animation engine for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS that gives Swift developers fluid, interruptible, retargetable animations without external dependencies.
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Frequently asked questions
Is open-design or Wave more popular?
open-design has 100,617 GitHub stars and Wave has 2,398. open-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are open-design and Wave free?
Both are open source. open-design is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Wave under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between open-design and Wave?
open-design is written in TypeScript and Wave in Swift. 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 Wave?
Choose open-design if you want the larger community (100,617 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Wave if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.