head to head · open source
nanobot vs sim
nanobot has 48,372 GitHub stars, 8,548 forks, 775 open issues and last shipped today. sim has 29,680 stars, 3,843 forks, 336 open issues and last shipped today. nanobot leads on adoption by 63% (48,372 vs 29,680 stars). nanobot is written in Python under MIT; sim is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. nanobot has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, sim 13%. sim was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (chatbot), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| nanobot | sim | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 48K | ★ 30K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.5K | ⑂ 3.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick nanobot if
- You weight community size — 48K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick sim if
- You want the sim feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and sim fits your workflow better
About nanobot
nanobot is an ultra lightweight, open source, self hosted personal AI agent framework written in Python, aimed at individual developers and small teams who want to run their own agent through a browser WebUI, a terminal, or chat apps instead of renting a hosted assistant.
read the full nanobot overview →
About sim
Sim is an open source collaborative workspace for building, deploying, and monitoring AI agents and workflows. It lives in the TypeScript ecosystem and is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license, with a repository that has accumulated roughly 29,600 stars and 3,800 forks over its two year history. The project positions itself as a single surface where chat, workflows, tables, files, and knowledge coexist, whether accessed through a browser or a desktop application for macOS.
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Frequently asked questions
Is nanobot or sim more popular?
nanobot has 48,372 GitHub stars and sim has 29,680. nanobot has the larger community by that measure.
Are nanobot and sim free?
Both are open source. nanobot is licensed under MIT and sim under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between nanobot and sim?
nanobot is written in Python and sim 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, nanobot or sim?
Choose nanobot if you want the larger community (48,372 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose sim if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.