head to head · open source
Paperclip vs Emdash
Paperclip has 110,292 GitHub stars, 18,270 forks, 5,464 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Emdash has 6,154 stars, 658 forks, 95 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Paperclip leads on adoption by 1,692% (110,292 vs 6,154 stars). Paperclip is written in TypeScript under MIT; Emdash is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Paperclip has attracted 17% as many forks as stars, Emdash 11%. Paperclip was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (claude-code), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Paperclip | Emdash | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 110K | ★ 6.2K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 18K | ⑂ 658 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Paperclip if
- You weight community size — 110K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Emdash if
- You want the Emdash feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Emdash fits your workflow better
About Paperclip
Quickstart · Docs · GitHub · Discord · Twitter · Website Paperclip is the app people use to manage AI agents for work. Open source orchestration for teams of AI agents. If OpenClaw is an employee , Paperclip is the company . Paperclip is a Node.js server and React UI that orchestrates a team of AI agents to run a business. Bring your own agents, assign goals, and track work and costs from one dashboard. It looks like a task manager. Under the hood: org charts, budgets, governance, goal alignment, and agent coordination. Manage business goals, not pull requests. Works with…
read the full Paperclip overview →
About Emdash
Download · Docs · Releases · Discord · Contributing Emdash is a desktop app for running AI coding agents in parallel. Each task runs in its own Git worktree, so you can explore multiple fixes or features at once, review the diffs, and merge what works. It works with local projects and remote machines over SSH. Bring the CLI agents you already use: Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Amp, and more. What You Can Do Run multiple coding agents at once without juggling terminals. Keep every agent isolated in its own Git worktree and branch. Send issues and tickets from Linear, GitHub, Jira, GitLab, Asana, Featurebase…
read the full Emdash overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More AI Assisted Coding projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the AI Assisted Coding field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Paperclip or Emdash more popular?
Paperclip has 110,292 GitHub stars and Emdash has 6,154. Paperclip has the larger community by that measure.
Are Paperclip and Emdash free?
Both are open source. Paperclip is licensed under MIT and Emdash under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Paperclip and Emdash?
Paperclip is written in TypeScript and Emdash 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, Paperclip or Emdash?
Choose Paperclip if you want the larger community (110,292 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Emdash if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.