head to head · open source
Shelf vs go-tuf
Shelf has 3,014 GitHub stars, 367 forks, 181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. go-tuf has 717 stars, 127 forks, 38 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Shelf leads on adoption by 320% (3,014 vs 717 stars). Shelf is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; go-tuf is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Shelf has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, go-tuf 18%. Shelf 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
| Shelf | go-tuf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.0K | ★ 717 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 367 | ⑂ 127 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Shelf if
- You weight community size — 3.0K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick go-tuf if
- You want the go-tuf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and go-tuf fits your workflow better
About Shelf
Shelf is a free, open source platform for tracking physical assets, including equipment, devices, tools, vehicles, props, and inventory. It is built for teams that need to know what they have, where it is, and who is using it. The project sits in the IT asset management, equipment management, scheduling, and operations software ecosystem.
read the full Shelf overview →
About go-tuf
go tuf is the Go implementation of The Update Framework (TUF), a library for securing software update systems and other content delivery, and it is aimed at Go developers who need update clients and repositories that remain safe even when a repository or a signing key is compromised.
read the full go-tuf overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shelf or go-tuf more popular?
Shelf has 3,014 GitHub stars and go-tuf has 717. Shelf has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shelf and go-tuf free?
Both are open source. Shelf is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and go-tuf under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shelf and go-tuf?
Shelf is written in TypeScript and go-tuf in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Shelf or go-tuf?
Choose Shelf if you want the larger community (3,014 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose go-tuf if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.