head to head · open source
qinglong vs cairoshell
qinglong has 19,887 GitHub stars, 3,232 forks, 108 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cairoshell has 3,371 stars, 271 forks, 246 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. qinglong leads on adoption by 490% (19,887 vs 3,371 stars). qinglong is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; cairoshell is written in C# under Apache-2.0. qinglong has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, cairoshell 8%. qinglong was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (shell, task-manager), 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
| qinglong | cairoshell | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 20K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 271 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick qinglong if
- You weight community size — 20K 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 cairoshell if
- You want the cairoshell feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and cairoshell fits your workflow better
About qinglong
Qinglong is a self hosted timed task management platform that schedules and runs Python 3, JavaScript, Shell, and TypeScript scripts from a web interface, built for developers and operators who want central control over scheduled jobs instead of hand editing crontab on every machine.
read the full qinglong overview →
About cairoshell
Cairo is a customizable, intuitive desktop environment for Windows. It is a C application that provides a shell experience on the Windows desktop, and its listed topics identify it as a launcher, task manager, Windows desktop tool, and WPF project. The repository describes Cairo as a desktop environment whose stated goal is to increase productivity and advance current technology standards, with a focus on stability, performance, and ease of use. It lives in the Windows desktop ecosystem rather than a server or cloud application ecosystem.
read the full cairoshell overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is qinglong or cairoshell more popular?
qinglong has 19,887 GitHub stars and cairoshell has 3,371. qinglong has the larger community by that measure.
Are qinglong and cairoshell free?
Both are open source. qinglong is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cairoshell under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between qinglong and cairoshell?
qinglong is written in TypeScript and cairoshell in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, qinglong or cairoshell?
Choose qinglong if you want the larger community (19,887 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cairoshell if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.