head to head · open source
Steel vs fess
Steel has 7,916 GitHub stars, 1,004 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. fess has 1,142 stars, 177 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Steel leads on adoption by 593% (7,916 vs 1,142 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%. Steel 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 | ★ 7.9K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.0K | ⑂ 177 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Steel if
- You weight community size — 7.9K 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 The open source browser API for AI agents & apps. The best way to build live web agents and browser automation tools. Get Started · Documentation · Website · Cookbook ✨ Highlights Steel.dev is an open source browser API that makes it easy to build AI apps and agents that interact with the web. Instead of building automation infrastructure from scratch, you can focus on your AI application while Steel handles the complexity. Under the hood, it manages sessions, pages, and browser processes, allowing you to perform complex browsing tasks programmatically without any of the headaches: Full Browser Control…
read the full Steel overview →
About fess
Fess: Enterprise Search Server Overview Fess is an enterprise search server that you can install and run on any platform with a Java runtime. It is built on OpenSearch, but prior OpenSearch knowledge is not required: Fess is configured through a browser based administration UI. A built in crawler collects documents from web sites, file systems, and data stores such as databases and CSV files. Many file formats are supported, including Microsoft Office, PDF, and ZIP archives. Fess Site Search is a free alternative to Google Site Search that you can embed in your own website. For details, see the FSS JS Generator…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Steel or fess more popular?
Steel has 7,916 GitHub stars and fess has 1,142. 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 (7,916 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.