head to head · open source
rowboat vs jido
rowboat has 18,131 GitHub stars, 1,817 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. jido has 1,900 stars, 121 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. rowboat leads on adoption by 854% (18,131 vs 1,900 stars). rowboat is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; jido is written in Elixir under Apache-2.0. rowboat has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, jido 6%. rowboat was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ai-agents), 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 | jido | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Elixir |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 121 |
| 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 jido if
- You want the jido feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Elixir
- You evaluated both and jido 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 jido
Jido Jido is an autonomous agent framework for Elixir, built for workflows and multi agent systems. Define agents, connect them to actions, signals, and directives, and run them with supervision and fault tolerance built in. The name "Jido" (自動) comes from the Japanese word meaning "automatic" or "automated", where 自 (ji) means "self" and 動 (dō) means "movement". Learn more about Jido at jido.run. Overview Jido helps you build agent systems as ordinary Elixir and OTP software. Agents hold state and implement cmd/2 Actions do work and transform that state Signals route events into the system Directives describe…
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Frequently asked questions
Is rowboat or jido more popular?
rowboat has 18,131 GitHub stars and jido has 1,900. rowboat has the larger community by that measure.
Are rowboat and jido free?
Both are open source. rowboat is licensed under Apache-2.0 and jido under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rowboat and jido?
rowboat is written in TypeScript and jido in Elixir. 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 jido?
Choose rowboat if you want the larger community (18,131 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose jido if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.