head to head · open source
open-design vs openharness
open-design has 97,331 GitHub stars, 11,300 forks, 1,090 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openharness has 529 stars, 50 forks, 40 open issues and last shipped yesterday. open-design leads on adoption by 18,299% (97,331 vs 529 stars). open-design is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; openharness is written in C under MIT. open-design has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, openharness 9%. open-design was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (coding-agents), 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
| open-design | openharness | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 97K | ★ 529 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-21 | 2026-09-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 11K | ⑂ 50 |
| 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 openharness if
- You want the openharness feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and openharness 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 openharness
OpenHarness is MIT licensed open source software and hardware, written in C, that gives people who build with coding agents one place to run those agents alongside domain tools and live viewers for work beyond software — CAD parts, circuit boards, data analysis, and video.
read the full openharness overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is open-design or openharness more popular?
open-design has 97,331 GitHub stars and openharness has 529. open-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are open-design and openharness free?
Both are open source. open-design is licensed under Apache-2.0 and openharness under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between open-design and openharness?
open-design is written in TypeScript and openharness in C. 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 openharness?
Choose open-design if you want the larger community (97,331 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose openharness if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.