head to head · open source
ralph vs packj
ralph has 2,516 GitHub stars, 593 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. packj has 693 stars, 38 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ralph leads on adoption by 263% (2,516 vs 693 stars). ralph is written in Python under Apache-2.0; packj is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. ralph has attracted 24% as many forks as stars, packj 5%. packj 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| ralph | packj | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.5K | ★ 693 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-10 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 593 | ⑂ 38 |
| 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 packj if
- You want the packj feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and packj 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 packj
Packj is an open source software supply chain security tool that flags malicious, vulnerable, abandoned, and typo squatting dependencies before they reach production, built for developers and DevOps and DevSecOps teams who vet npm, PyPI, RubyGems, Cargo, Packagist, and NuGet packages.
read the full packj overview →
More in Business Software
Related comparisons
More ERP & Operations projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the ERP & Operations field.
Frequently asked questions
Is ralph or packj more popular?
ralph has 2,516 GitHub stars and packj has 693. ralph has the larger community by that measure.
Are ralph and packj free?
Both are open source. ralph is licensed under Apache-2.0 and packj under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ralph and packj?
ralph is written in Python and packj 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, ralph or packj?
Choose ralph if you want the larger community (2,516 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose packj if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.