head to head · open source
NvChad vs platformio-core
NvChad has 28,527 GitHub stars, 2,212 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. platformio-core has 9,583 stars, 917 forks, 272 open issues and last shipped 21 days ago. NvChad leads on adoption by 198% (28,527 vs 9,583 stars). NvChad is written in Lua under GPL-3.0; platformio-core is written in Python under Apache-2.0. NvChad has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, platformio-core 10%. NvChad 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
| NvChad | platformio-core | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 9.6K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Lua | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-24 | 2026-10-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.2K | ⑂ 917 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick NvChad if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick platformio-core if
- You want the platformio-core feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and platformio-core fits your workflow better
About NvChad
NvChad Home • Install • Contribute • Support • Features Showcase What is it? NvChad is a neovim config written in lua aiming to provide a base configuration with very beautiful UI and blazing fast startuptime (around 0.02 secs 0.07 secs). We tweak UI plugins such as telescope, nvim tree etc well to provide an aesthetic UI experience. Lazy loading is done 93% of the time meaning that plugins will not be loaded by default, they will be loaded only when required also at specific commands, events etc. This lowers the startuptime and it was like 0.07 secs tested on an old pentium machine 1.4ghz + 4gb ram & HDD…
read the full NvChad overview →
About platformio-core
PlatformIO Core =============== .. image:: :target: :alt: CI Build for PlatformIO Core .. image:: :target: :alt: CI Build for Docs .. image:: :target: :alt: CI Build for dev platform examples .. image:: :target: :alt: CI Build for the Community Projects .. image:: :target: :alt: Latest Version .. image:: :alt: PlatformIO Labs :target: Quick Links: Homepage PlatformIO IDE Registry Project Examples Docs Donate Contact Us Social: LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Community Forums .. image:: :target: PlatformIO : Your Gateway to Embedded Software Development Excellence. Unlock the true potential of embedded software…
read the full platformio-core overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is NvChad or platformio-core more popular?
NvChad has 28,527 GitHub stars and platformio-core has 9,583. NvChad has the larger community by that measure.
Are NvChad and platformio-core free?
Both are open source. NvChad is licensed under GPL-3.0 and platformio-core under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between NvChad and platformio-core?
NvChad is written in Lua and platformio-core 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, NvChad or platformio-core?
Choose NvChad if you want the larger community (28,527 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose platformio-core if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.