head to head · open source
serviette vs lightly-studio
serviette has 58,735 GitHub stars, 1,543 forks, 8 open issues and last shipped 18 days ago. lightly-studio has 901 stars, 42 forks, 53 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. serviette leads on adoption by 6,419% (58,735 vs 901 stars). serviette is written in Python under MIT; lightly-studio is written in Python under Apache-2.0. serviette has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, lightly-studio 5%. lightly-studio was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| serviette | lightly-studio | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 59K | ★ 901 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Python |
| Last push | 2026-10-16 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 42 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick serviette if
- You weight community size — 59K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick lightly-studio if
- You want the lightly-studio feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and lightly-studio fits your workflow better
About serviette
serviette Looking for llm app templates? All templates, cookbooks and examples are still available in full in the Pathway repository under examples/llm app . A no code, always up to date RAG server for any vector database — built on the Pathway Live Data Framework. Point serviette at a folder of documents, pick a vector database and an embedder in one YAML file, and run two commands: you get a chat and a REST API that answer from those documents and cite their sources. From then on, any change to the documents — an edit, a new file, a deletion — is reflected in the answers within seconds. serviette runs on…
read the full serviette overview →
About lightly-studio
Curate, Annotate, and Manage Your Data in LightlyStudio. The embedding plot shows how images relate to each other, with a preview on hover. A lasso selection filters the grid to one cluster. A search for "coffee" finds a match, and the annotation editor opens to label it. ⚡ Works smoothly with 2M+ images, embeddings included, on a single MacBook (M1, 16GB RAM). 🚀 Try it in 60 seconds LightlyStudio runs on your computer and opens in your browser. The following command downloads an example dataset with images, annotations, and evaluation results — no account needed. Local only: your images and datasets never…
read the full lightly-studio overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is serviette or lightly-studio more popular?
serviette has 58,735 GitHub stars and lightly-studio has 901. serviette has the larger community by that measure.
Are serviette and lightly-studio free?
Both are open source. serviette is licensed under MIT and lightly-studio under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between serviette and lightly-studio?
serviette is written in Python and lightly-studio 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, serviette or lightly-studio?
Choose serviette if you want the larger community (58,735 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose lightly-studio if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.