head to head · open source
rowboat vs agent-orchestrator
rowboat has 18,126 GitHub stars, 1,816 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. agent-orchestrator has 14,021 stars, 1,911 forks, 711 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rowboat leads on adoption by 29% (18,126 vs 14,021 stars). rowboat is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; agent-orchestrator is written in Go under Apache-2.0. rowboat has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, agent-orchestrator 14%. agent-orchestrator was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai-agents, claude-code), 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
| rowboat | agent-orchestrator | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 14K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick rowboat if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick agent-orchestrator if
- You want the agent-orchestrator feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and agent-orchestrator fits your workflow better
About rowboat
Rowboat A desktop AI coworker with a memory of your work and built in surfaces to act on it. 简体中文 · 日本語 · 한국어 · Español · Français · Português Rowboat indexes your work into a living knowledge graph and uses that to get work done on your machine. It includes work surfaces for collaborating with AI: email client, notes, browser, code mode, meeting note taker, and workspaces for different projects. Download latest for Mac/Windows/Linux: Download Demo apps to code · Demo knowledge graph ⭐ If you find Rowboat useful, please star the repo. It helps more people find it. Overview Brain Rowboat indexes email, meetings…
read the full rowboat overview →
About agent-orchestrator
Agent Orchestrator Plan, run, and supervise coding agents from one place. Give every coding task its own agent, workspace, and feedback loop. Plan and delegate larger outcomes with a project aware orchestrator. Follow every worker, pull request, CI run, and review in a live Kanban. Download AO • Documentation • Releases • Contributing • Discord English · 简体中文 · 日本語 · 한국어 · Español · Français · Deutsch · Português (Brasil) A workspace for agent driven development One coding agent can handle a task. Running several across a project creates a different job: deciding what matters, splitting work…
read the full agent-orchestrator overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rowboat or agent-orchestrator more popular?
rowboat has 18,126 GitHub stars and agent-orchestrator has 14,021. rowboat has the larger community by that measure.
Are rowboat and agent-orchestrator free?
Both are open source. rowboat is licensed under Apache-2.0 and agent-orchestrator under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rowboat and agent-orchestrator?
rowboat is written in TypeScript and agent-orchestrator 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, rowboat or agent-orchestrator?
Choose rowboat if you want the larger community (18,126 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose agent-orchestrator if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.