head to head · open source
openagent vs ctx
openagent has 5,628 GitHub stars, 657 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. ctx has 587 stars, 71 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. openagent leads on adoption by 859% (5,628 vs 587 stars). openagent is written in Go under Apache-2.0; ctx is written in Python under MIT. openagent has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, ctx 12%. openagent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (harness, llm), 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
| openagent | ctx | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 5.6K | ★ 587 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 657 | ⑂ 71 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick openagent if
- You weight community size — 5.6K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ctx if
- You want the ctx feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and ctx fits your workflow better
About openagent
OpenAgent is an open source, self hostable personal AI assistant written in Go under the Apache 2.0 licence, combining large language models, a retrieval augmented knowledge base, and autonomous agent loops for individuals and teams who want their own assistant running on their own machine.
read the full openagent overview →
About ctx
ctx is a repo aware recommendation engine for AI coding configurations — skills, agents, MCP servers, and model harnesses — built for developers and platform teams who want the cheapest setup that reliably works on their own repository.
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Frequently asked questions
Is openagent or ctx more popular?
openagent has 5,628 GitHub stars and ctx has 587. openagent has the larger community by that measure.
Are openagent and ctx free?
Both are open source. openagent is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ctx under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between openagent and ctx?
openagent is written in Go and ctx in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, openagent or ctx?
Choose openagent if you want the larger community (5,628 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ctx if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.