head to head · open source
ralph vs cmms
ralph has 2,516 GitHub stars, 593 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. cmms has 777 stars, 226 forks, 34 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ralph leads on adoption by 224% (2,516 vs 777 stars). ralph is written in Python under Apache-2.0; cmms is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. ralph has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, cmms 29%. cmms was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (inventory-management), 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
| ralph | cmms | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.5K | ★ 777 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-10 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 593 | ⑂ 226 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ralph if
- You weight community size — 2.5K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cmms if
- You want the cmms feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and cmms fits your workflow better
About ralph
Ralph is an open source asset management, DCIM, and CMDB system written in Python and built with Django. It is intended for organizations that need to manage data center hardware and back office hardware in one place under the Apache 2.0 license. The project lives in the business software and operations ecosystem.
read the full ralph overview →
About cmms
Atlas CMMS is a self hosted computerized maintenance management system written in TypeScript and licensed under AGPL 3.0. It provides a web application and a mobile application for managing maintenance work, equipment, inventory, locations, and service requests. The project lives in the open source business software and ERP operations ecosystem, and it is deployed with Docker.
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Frequently asked questions
Is ralph or cmms more popular?
ralph has 2,516 GitHub stars and cmms has 777. ralph has the larger community by that measure.
Are ralph and cmms free?
Both are open source. ralph is licensed under Apache-2.0 and cmms under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ralph and cmms?
ralph is written in Python and cmms 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, ralph or cmms?
Choose ralph if you want the larger community (2,516 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose cmms if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.