head to head · open source
Refine vs OpenPanel
Refine has 35,688 GitHub stars, 3,214 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. OpenPanel has 745 stars, 106 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Refine leads on adoption by 4,690% (35,688 vs 745 stars). Refine is written in TypeScript under MIT; OpenPanel is written in HTML under a custom or non-standard licence. Refine has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, OpenPanel 14%. OpenPanel 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
| Refine | OpenPanel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 36K | ★ 745 |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-09-10 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 106 |
| 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 OpenPanel if
- You want the OpenPanel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You evaluated both and OpenPanel fits your workflow better
About Refine
Refine is an open source React meta framework for building CRUD heavy internal tools, admin panels, dashboards, and B2B applications. It operates in the React ecosystem and targets developers who need structured, scalable frontends without the constraints of low code platforms or the overhead of building everything from scratch.
read the full Refine overview →
About OpenPanel
OpenPanel is an open source web hosting control panel built around containers, and it lives in the self hosted infrastructure operations ecosystem for Docker and Podman hosting panels. It is offered as a free community edition and as a fully supported commercial version.
read the full OpenPanel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Refine or OpenPanel more popular?
Refine has 35,688 GitHub stars and OpenPanel has 745. Refine has the larger community by that measure.
Are Refine and OpenPanel free?
Both are open source. Refine is licensed under MIT, and OpenPanel has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Refine and OpenPanel?
Refine is written in TypeScript and OpenPanel in HTML. 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 OpenPanel?
Choose Refine if you want the larger community (35,688 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose OpenPanel if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.