head to head · open source
rowboat vs earthly
rowboat has 18,126 GitHub stars, 1,816 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. earthly has 12,054 stars, 466 forks, 744 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. rowboat leads on adoption by 50% (18,126 vs 12,054 stars). rowboat is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; earthly is written in Go under MPL-2.0. rowboat has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, earthly 4%. rowboat 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
| rowboat | earthly | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 12K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 466 |
| 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 earthly if
- You want the earthly feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and earthly 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 earthly
Earthly Please note that Earthly is no longer actively maintained. Read more. It’s like Docker for builds 🔁 Repeatable Builds Write builds once, and run them anywhere – on your laptop, remote, and in any CI. ❤️ Super Simple Instantly recognizable syntax – like Dockerfile and Makefile had a baby. 🛠 Compatible with Every Language, Framework, and Build Tool If it runs on Linux, it runs on Earthly. 🏘 Great for Monorepos and Polyrepos Organize your build logic however makes the most sense for your project. 💨 Fast Builds Build caching and parallel execution makes builds fast automatically. ♻️ Reuse, Don't Repeat…
read the full earthly overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rowboat or earthly more popular?
rowboat has 18,126 GitHub stars and earthly has 12,054. rowboat has the larger community by that measure.
Are rowboat and earthly free?
Both are open source. rowboat is licensed under Apache-2.0 and earthly under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rowboat and earthly?
rowboat is written in TypeScript and earthly 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 earthly?
Choose rowboat if you want the larger community (18,126 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose earthly if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.