head to head · open source
openidea vs bb
openidea has 8,562 GitHub stars, 752 forks, 87 open issues and last shipped yesterday. bb has 5,334 stars, 779 forks, 463 open issues and last shipped yesterday. openidea leads on adoption by 61% (8,562 vs 5,334 stars). openidea is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; bb is written in TypeScript under MIT. openidea has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, bb 15%. openidea was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ide), 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
| openidea | bb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.6K | ★ 5.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-11 | 2026-11-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 752 | ⑂ 779 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick openidea if
- You weight community size — 8.6K 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 bb if
- You want the bb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and bb fits your workflow better
About openidea
The IDE you know, rebuilt in Rust. Download · Benchmark · Build · Discord OpenIDEA brings the IntelliJ IDEA way of working — its keymap, its tool windows, its search everything habits — to a native app with a Rust core. Editor, code insight, debugger, Git, terminal, database and HTTP clients, for 60+ languages. Builds for macOS, Windows and Linux. Benchmark Opening freqtrade (Python, 770 files) with warm caches, median of 5 runs: A release build of OpenIDEA from main and IDEA with default settings and plugins, on Windows 11, 32 core AMD, 62 GB RAM. IDEA analyses Python more deeply, so "ready" doesn't mean the…
read the full openidea overview →
About bb
bb bb is an agentic IDE that builds itself. It can control, customize, and automate itself, laying the groundwork for your own software factory. Every surface — the desktop app, web app, CLI, and HTTP API — is a first class way to drive bb. Work runs in threads you can follow live, steer at any point, or hand off to another agent. [!NOTE] bb is in active development. Core architecture is stable, but workflows and surfaces are still evolving. Use bb Download the desktop app The recommended way to start using bb is the desktop app: Download the latest desktop app The desktop app supports macOS on Apple Silicon…
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Frequently asked questions
Is openidea or bb more popular?
openidea has 8,562 GitHub stars and bb has 5,334. openidea has the larger community by that measure.
Are openidea and bb free?
Both are open source. openidea is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bb under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between openidea and bb?
openidea is written in TypeScript and bb in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, openidea or bb?
Choose openidea if you want the larger community (8,562 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose bb if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.