head to head · open source
serenity vs emacs-application-framework
serenity has 33,847 GitHub stars, 3,544 forks, 739 open issues and last shipped today. emacs-application-framework has 3,488 stars, 245 forks, 21 open issues and last shipped 28 days ago. serenity leads on adoption by 870% (33,847 vs 3,488 stars). serenity is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; emacs-application-framework is written in Python under GPL-3.0. serenity has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, emacs-application-framework 7%. serenity was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser), 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
| serenity | emacs-application-framework | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 34K | ★ 3.5K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-08-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 245 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick serenity if
- You weight community size — 34K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick emacs-application-framework if
- You want the emacs-application-framework feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and emacs-application-framework fits your workflow better
About serenity
SerenityOS is a graphical Unix like operating system built for 64 bit x86, Arm, and RISC V computers. It is written in C++ and released under the BSD 2 Clause license, and it lives in the open source operating system ecosystem alongside other hobbyist and research kernels. The project describes itself as a love letter to 1990s user interfaces paired with a custom Unix like core, aiming for a marriage between the aesthetic of late 1990s productivity software and the power user accessibility of late 2000s Unix systems.
read the full serenity overview →
About emacs-application-framework
Emacs Application Framework (EAF) is a free/libre, open source framework that extends the graphical capabilities of Emacs, built for hackers who work with numerous languages and text, are keyboard driven, and want maximum freedom, extensibility, and introspectivity over their tools — potentially to the point of living in Emacs.
read the full emacs-application-framework overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is serenity or emacs-application-framework more popular?
serenity has 33,847 GitHub stars and emacs-application-framework has 3,488. serenity has the larger community by that measure.
Are serenity and emacs-application-framework free?
Both are open source. serenity is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and emacs-application-framework under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between serenity and emacs-application-framework?
serenity is written in C++ and emacs-application-framework in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, serenity or emacs-application-framework?
Choose serenity if you want the larger community (33,847 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose emacs-application-framework if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.