head to head · open source
ToolJet vs Rowy
ToolJet has 40,942 GitHub stars, 5,449 forks, 1,204 open issues and last shipped today. Rowy has 6,841 stars, 557 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped 1.8 years ago. ToolJet leads on adoption by 498% (40,942 vs 6,841 stars). ToolJet is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; Rowy is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. ToolJet has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, Rowy 8%. ToolJet was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (internal-tools), 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
| ToolJet | Rowy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2024-11-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.4K | ⑂ 557 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ToolJet if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Rowy if
- You want the Rowy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Rowy fits your workflow better
About ToolJet
ToolJet is an open source low code platform for building internal tools—admin panels, dashboards, and operational applications—by connecting to existing databases, APIs, and SaaS systems. It lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and is licensed under AGPL 3.0.
read the full ToolJet overview →
About Rowy
Rowy is an open source low code backend platform that runs in the browser. It provides a spreadsheet like interface for managing data stored in Firestore, and it embeds a code editor for writing cloud functions in JavaScript or TypeScript. The project lives in the Firebase and Google Cloud Platform ecosystem, and it is written in TypeScript. It is commonly described as an Airtable style front end for a Firestore database, with automation built in.
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Frequently asked questions
Is ToolJet or Rowy more popular?
ToolJet has 40,942 GitHub stars and Rowy has 6,841. ToolJet has the larger community by that measure.
Are ToolJet and Rowy free?
Both are open source. ToolJet is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Rowy has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between ToolJet and Rowy?
ToolJet is written in JavaScript and Rowy 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, ToolJet or Rowy?
Choose ToolJet if you want the larger community (40,942 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Rowy if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.