head to head · open source
Shelf vs Open Mercato
Shelf has 3,014 GitHub stars, 367 forks, 181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Open Mercato has 1,748 stars, 413 forks, 1,119 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Shelf leads on adoption by 72% (3,014 vs 1,748 stars). Shelf is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Open Mercato is written in TypeScript under MIT. Shelf has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Open Mercato 24%. Open Mercato 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 | Open Mercato | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.0K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 367 | ⑂ 413 |
| 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 Open Mercato if
- You want the Open Mercato feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Open Mercato 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 Open Mercato
Open Mercato is open source TypeScript foundation for CRM, ERP, commerce apps. It lives in Next.js ecosystem under MIT license. Project is AI engineering framework, not finished business suite. It supplies architecture, conventions, specs, domain modules, agent facing skills. Coding assistants can place and extend code consistently. It targets teams using Cursor, Claude Code, Codex.
read the full Open Mercato overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shelf or Open Mercato more popular?
Shelf has 3,014 GitHub stars and Open Mercato has 1,748. Shelf has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shelf and Open Mercato free?
Both are open source. Shelf is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Open Mercato under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Shelf and Open Mercato?
Shelf is written in TypeScript and Open Mercato 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, Shelf or Open Mercato?
Choose Shelf if you want the larger community (3,014 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Open Mercato if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.