head to head · open source
rowboat vs jido
rowboat has 17,914 GitHub stars, 1,784 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. jido has 1,860 stars, 119 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. rowboat leads on adoption by 863% (17,914 vs 1,860 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%. jido 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| rowboat | jido | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 1.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Elixir |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 119 |
| 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 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 jido
Jido is an open source autonomous agent framework for Elixir, aimed at developers building multi agent systems and dynamic workflows who want to stay inside ordinary Elixir and OTP software rather than adopt a separate agent runtime.
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Orchestration & Scheduling projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Orchestration & Scheduling field.
Frequently asked questions
Is rowboat or jido more popular?
rowboat has 17,914 GitHub stars and jido has 1,860. 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 (17,914 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.