head to head · open source
Shelf vs samarium
Shelf has 3,049 GitHub stars, 384 forks, 181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. samarium has 506 stars, 86 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. Shelf leads on adoption by 503% (3,049 vs 506 stars). Shelf is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; samarium is written in Blade under MIT. Shelf has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, samarium 17%. 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 | samarium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.0K | ★ 506 |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Blade |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-05-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 384 | ⑂ 86 |
| 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 Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick samarium if
- You want the samarium feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Blade
- You evaluated both and samarium fits your workflow better
About Shelf
Open source asset management infrastructure for everyone. Website · Documentation · Discord · Twitter Shelf is a platform for tracking physical assets — equipment, devices, tools, vehicles, props, inventory. It's built for teams that need to know what they have, where it is, and who's using it. Organizations use Shelf to manage thousands of assets across locations with role based access for their teams. Features QR asset tags — Generate and print QR codes. Scan with any phone to view, check out, or report an asset. Bookings and reservations — Schedule equipment, prevent double bookings, set…
read the full Shelf overview →
About samarium
Samarium Business Management System A simple ERP system for small businesses still growing and improving Quick Start • Features • Installation • Contributing About Samarium Samarium is a work in progress business management system that aims to help small businesses handle basic operations like invoicing, inventory, and customer management in one place. While it's still in active development with many features being refined and added, it might be useful for simple business needs. The project started as a learning exercise but has grown into something that could potentially help others who need basic business…
read the full samarium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Shelf or samarium more popular?
Shelf has 3,049 GitHub stars and samarium has 506. Shelf has the larger community by that measure.
Are Shelf and samarium free?
Both are open source. Shelf has no licence declared in this registry, and samarium is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Shelf and samarium?
Shelf is written in TypeScript and samarium in Blade. 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 samarium?
Choose Shelf if you want the larger community (3,049 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose samarium if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.