head to head · open source
Refine vs Cosmos Server
Refine has 35,981 GitHub stars, 3,266 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Cosmos Server has 6,190 stars, 252 forks, 201 open issues and last shipped 13 days ago. Refine leads on adoption by 481% (35,981 vs 6,190 stars). Refine is written in TypeScript under MIT; Cosmos Server is written in Go under a custom or non-standard licence. Refine has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Cosmos Server 4%. Cosmos Server 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 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Refine | Cosmos Server | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 6.2K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-10 | 2026-10-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 252 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Refine if
- You weight community size — 36K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Cosmos Server if
- You want the Cosmos Server feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Cosmos Server fits your workflow better
About Refine
Home Page Documentation Examples Discord Blog Refine The sweet spot between the low/no code and “starting from scratch” for CRUD heavy applications. Refine Core is an open source, React meta framework for enterprise. It provides a headless solution for everything from admin panels to dashboards and internal tools. Refine CORE also powers Refine's purpose built AI agent. What is Refine CORE? Refine CORE is a React meta framework for CRUD heavy web applications. It addresses a wide range of enterprise use cases including internal tools, admin panels, dashboards and B2B apps. Refine CORE's hooks and components…
read the full Refine overview →
About Cosmos Server
Thanks to the sponsors: ☁️ Cosmos is the most secure and easy way to self host a Home Server. It acts as a secure gateway to your application, as well as a server manager. It aims to solve the increasingly worrying problem of vulnerable self hosted applications and personal servers. Whether you have a server , a NAS , or a Raspberry Pi with applications such as Plex , HomeAssistant or even a blog, Cosmos is the perfect solution to run and secure them all. Simply install Cosmos on your server and connect to your applications through it to enjoy built in security and robustness for all your services, right out of…
read the full Cosmos Server overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Server & VM Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Server & VM Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Refine or Cosmos Server more popular?
Refine has 35,981 GitHub stars and Cosmos Server has 6,190. Refine has the larger community by that measure.
Are Refine and Cosmos Server free?
Both are open source. Refine is licensed under MIT, and Cosmos Server has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Refine and Cosmos Server?
Refine is written in TypeScript and Cosmos Server 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, Refine or Cosmos Server?
Choose Refine if you want the larger community (35,981 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Cosmos Server if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.