head to head · open source
Shelf vs marley
Shelf has 3,014 GitHub stars, 367 forks, 181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. marley has 531 stars, 459 forks, 74 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Shelf leads on adoption by 468% (3,014 vs 531 stars). Shelf is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; marley is written in Python under GPL-3.0. Shelf has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, marley 86%. 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 | marley | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.0K | ★ 531 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 367 | ⑂ 459 |
| 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 marley if
- You want the marley 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 marley 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 marley
Marley Health is an open source, GPL 3.0 licensed health information system (HIS) built on the Frappe framework for healthcare organisations — clinics, hospitals, and practitioners — that want electronic health records and hospital operations running on infrastructure they control.
read the full marley overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shelf or marley more popular?
Shelf has 3,014 GitHub stars and marley has 531. Shelf has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shelf and marley free?
Both are open source. Shelf is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and marley under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shelf and marley?
Shelf is written in TypeScript and marley 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, Shelf or marley?
Choose Shelf if you want the larger community (3,014 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose marley if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.