head to head · open source
rowboat vs smythos-studio
rowboat has 17,994 GitHub stars, 1,792 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. smythos-studio has 555 stars, 82 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. rowboat leads on adoption by 3,142% (17,994 vs 555 stars). rowboat is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; smythos-studio is written in TypeScript under MIT. rowboat has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, smythos-studio 15%. 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 | smythos-studio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 555 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-02 | 2026-04-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 82 |
| 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 smythos-studio if
- You want the smythos-studio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and smythos-studio 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 smythos-studio
SmythOS Studio is an open source visual builder and deployable runtime stack from SmythOS for creating, testing, and hosting AI agents through a drag and drop workspace that individuals and teams can run locally, in the cloud, or at the edge.
read the full smythos-studio overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is rowboat or smythos-studio more popular?
rowboat has 17,994 GitHub stars and smythos-studio has 555. rowboat has the larger community by that measure.
Are rowboat and smythos-studio free?
Both are open source. rowboat is licensed under Apache-2.0 and smythos-studio under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between rowboat and smythos-studio?
rowboat is written in TypeScript and smythos-studio 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 smythos-studio?
Choose rowboat if you want the larger community (17,994 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose smythos-studio if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.