head to head · open source
rowboat vs Paradev
rowboat has 18,134 GitHub stars, 1,817 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Paradev has 15,983 stars, 1,431 forks, 1,164 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rowboat leads on adoption by 13% (18,134 vs 15,983 stars). rowboat is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Paradev is written in TypeScript under MIT. rowboat has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Paradev 9%. Paradev 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 | Paradev | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 16K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-11-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| 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 Paradev if
- You want the Paradev feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Paradev 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 Paradev
Paradev (formerly Superset) Run Claude Code, Codex, or another CLI agent with terminals, code review, and browser previews in one workspace. Download for macOS • Documentation • Changelog • Discord What is Paradev? Paradev is a desktop app for running CLI coding agents in parallel. Each task gets its own Git worktree, branch, and terminals, so Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Cursor Agent, or any other CLI agent can work on several tasks in one repository at the same time. Paradev is for developers who already use a coding agent in the terminal and want to run more than one task at once…
read the full Paradev overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rowboat or Paradev more popular?
rowboat has 18,134 GitHub stars and Paradev has 15,983. rowboat has the larger community by that measure.
Are rowboat and Paradev free?
Both are open source. rowboat is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Paradev under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rowboat and Paradev?
rowboat is written in TypeScript and Paradev 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 Paradev?
Choose rowboat if you want the larger community (18,134 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Paradev if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.