head to head · open source
rowboat vs CodeMachine-CLI
rowboat has 17,914 GitHub stars, 1,784 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. CodeMachine-CLI has 2,510 stars, 238 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. rowboat leads on adoption by 614% (17,914 vs 2,510 stars). rowboat is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; CodeMachine-CLI is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. rowboat has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, CodeMachine-CLI 9%. rowboat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (ai, generative-ai), 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 | CodeMachine-CLI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-02-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 238 |
| 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 CodeMachine-CLI if
- You want the CodeMachine-CLI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and CodeMachine-CLI fits your workflow better
About rowboat
Rowboat is an open source desktop AI coworker, licensed Apache 2.0 and written in TypeScript, that maintains a memory of your work as a local Markdown knowledge graph and provides built in surfaces — email, notes, browser, code mode, meeting notes — for acting on that memory.
read the full rowboat overview →
About CodeMachine-CLI
CodeMachine is an open source orchestration layer, written in TypeScript and released under the Apache 2.0 licence, that runs AI coding command line agents through structured, repeatable workflows for developers and teams who want long running agent work defined once and executed the same way on every project.
read the full CodeMachine-CLI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rowboat or CodeMachine-CLI more popular?
rowboat has 17,914 GitHub stars and CodeMachine-CLI has 2,510. rowboat has the larger community by that measure.
Are rowboat and CodeMachine-CLI free?
Both are open source. rowboat is licensed under Apache-2.0 and CodeMachine-CLI under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rowboat and CodeMachine-CLI?
rowboat is written in TypeScript and CodeMachine-CLI in TypeScript. 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 CodeMachine-CLI?
Choose rowboat if you want the larger community (17,914 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose CodeMachine-CLI if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.