head to head · open source
ralph vs samarium
ralph has 2,531 GitHub stars, 593 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped yesterday. samarium has 506 stars, 86 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. ralph leads on adoption by 400% (2,531 vs 506 stars). ralph is written in Python under Apache-2.0; samarium is written in Blade under MIT. ralph has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, samarium 17%. ralph 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
| ralph | samarium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.5K | ★ 506 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Blade |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-05-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 593 | ⑂ 86 |
| 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 samarium if
- You want the samarium feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Blade
- You evaluated both and samarium fits your workflow better
About ralph
Ralph Update 2025/02 As Allegro, we continue to publish Ralph's source code and will maintain its development under a "Sources only" model, without guarantees. We believe this approach will be beneficial, allowing everyone to use and build upon the software. Our current goal is to modernize the software and ensure its long term maintainability, and we're investing into it in 2025. However, we are not operating under a contribution based model. While we welcome discussions, we do not guarantee responses to issues or support for pull requests. If you require commercial support, please visit We sincerely appreciate…
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About samarium
Samarium Business Management System A simple ERP system for small businesses still growing and improving Quick Start • Features • Installation • Contributing About Samarium Samarium is a work in progress business management system that aims to help small businesses handle basic operations like invoicing, inventory, and customer management in one place. While it's still in active development with many features being refined and added, it might be useful for simple business needs. The project started as a learning exercise but has grown into something that could potentially help others who need basic business…
read the full samarium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ralph or samarium more popular?
ralph has 2,531 GitHub stars and samarium has 506. ralph has the larger community by that measure.
Are ralph and samarium free?
Both are open source. ralph is licensed under Apache-2.0 and samarium under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ralph and samarium?
ralph is written in Python and samarium in Blade. 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 samarium?
Choose ralph if you want the larger community (2,531 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose samarium if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.