head to head · open source
Puter vs certificates
Puter has 43,550 GitHub stars, 4,064 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. certificates has 8,878 stars, 594 forks, 299 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Puter leads on adoption by 391% (43,550 vs 8,878 stars). Puter is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; certificates is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Puter has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, certificates 7%. Puter was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Puter | certificates | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 8.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.1K | ⑂ 594 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Puter if
- You weight community size — 44K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick certificates if
- You want the certificates feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and certificates fits your workflow better
About Puter
Puter is an open source, self hostable internet computer that delivers a full desktop environment running directly in a web browser. It functions as a cloud based operating system, integrating file storage, applications, and developer tooling into a single cohesive platform. The project lives in the browser based desktop and cloud infrastructure ecosystem, positioning itself as a free and open alternative to proprietary cloud desktop services.
read the full Puter overview →
About certificates
step ca is an open source online certificate authority that issues X.509 and SSH certificates and runs as an ACME server, built for DevOps teams that need automated certificate management without a commercial PKI contract.
read the full certificates overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Puter or certificates more popular?
Puter has 43,550 GitHub stars and certificates has 8,878. Puter has the larger community by that measure.
Are Puter and certificates free?
Both are open source. Puter is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and certificates under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Puter and certificates?
Puter is written in TypeScript and certificates in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Puter or certificates?
Choose Puter if you want the larger community (43,550 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose certificates if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.