head to head · open source
Steel vs fess
Steel has 7,668 GitHub stars, 982 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. fess has 1,137 stars, 175 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped today. Steel leads on adoption by 574% (7,668 vs 1,137 stars). Steel is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; fess is written in Java under Apache-2.0. Steel has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, fess 15%. fess was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (llm), 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
| Steel | fess | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.7K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-16 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 982 | ⑂ 175 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Steel if
- You weight community size — 7.7K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick fess if
- You want the fess feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and fess fits your workflow better
About Steel
Steel is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed browser API written in TypeScript that gives AI agents and applications cloud browser sessions, so teams can automate the web without building browser infrastructure from scratch.
read the full Steel overview →
About fess
Fess is an open source, self hosted enterprise and site search server built on OpenSearch, intended for teams and site owners who need to crawl, index, and search their own web, file, database, and cloud content without sending it to a hosted search provider.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Steel or fess more popular?
Steel has 7,668 GitHub stars and fess has 1,137. Steel has the larger community by that measure.
Are Steel and fess free?
Both are open source. Steel is licensed under Apache-2.0 and fess under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Steel and fess?
Steel is written in TypeScript and fess in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Steel or fess?
Choose Steel if you want the larger community (7,668 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose fess if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.