head to head · open source
NocoBase vs penguin-harness
NocoBase has 24,834 GitHub stars, 2,949 forks, 307 open issues and last shipped yesterday. penguin-harness has 3,130 stars, 335 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NocoBase leads on adoption by 693% (24,834 vs 3,130 stars). NocoBase is written in TypeScript under a licence not recorded in this registry; penguin-harness is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. NocoBase has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, penguin-harness 11%. penguin-harness was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (agentic-ai, 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
| NocoBase | penguin-harness | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 25K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 335 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick NocoBase if
- You weight community size — 25K stars and counting
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick penguin-harness if
- You want the penguin-harness 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 penguin-harness fits your workflow better
About NocoBase
English 简体中文 日本語 Français Español Português Português (BR) Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt Deutsch Table of Contents What is NocoBase Quick Start Release Notes Distinctive Features What is NocoBase NocoBase is an open source AI + no code platform for building business systems fast. Instead of generating everything from scratch, AI works on top of production proven infrastructure and a WYSIWYG no code interface, so you get both speed and reliability. Homepage: Online demo: Documentation: Forum: User stories: Quick Start Detailed steps: Install a NocoBase app AI Agent Integration Guide Release Notes Our release notes…
read the full NocoBase overview →
About penguin-harness
PenguinHarness Open source, local first multi agent app development platform Fully automate building · optimizing · deploying AI applications 1000+ Models · Multi Platform · Apache 2.0 · Agent Self Evolution = 24" / English 简体中文 Why PenguinHarness With LangChain, you build agents by hand — at 1× speed. With PenguinHarness, agents build agents — at 100×. PenguinHarness runs on your computer or server and automates the agent app lifecycle from creation and evaluation to optimization and deployment. Three reasons define the platform: 1. 🏆 Outstanding results at tens of times less cost A deliberately minimal…
read the full penguin-harness overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Build & Deployment projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Build & Deployment field.
Frequently asked questions
Is NocoBase or penguin-harness more popular?
NocoBase has 24,834 GitHub stars and penguin-harness has 3,130. NocoBase has the larger community by that measure.
Are NocoBase and penguin-harness free?
Both are open source. NocoBase has no licence declared in this registry, and penguin-harness is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between NocoBase and penguin-harness?
NocoBase is written in TypeScript and penguin-harness 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, NocoBase or penguin-harness?
Choose NocoBase if you want the larger community (24,834 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose penguin-harness if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.