head to head · open source
substance vs Tangent
substance has 2,733 GitHub stars, 121 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 6 months ago. Tangent has 552 stars, 38 forks, 112 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. substance leads on adoption by 395% (2,733 vs 552 stars). substance is written in JavaScript under MIT; Tangent is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. substance has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Tangent 7%. Tangent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (text-editor), 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
| substance | Tangent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 2.7K | ★ 552 |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-04-02 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 121 | ⑂ 38 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick substance if
- You weight community size — 2.7K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Tangent if
- You want the Tangent 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 Tangent fits your workflow better
About substance
Substance is a JavaScript library for web based content editing. It lives in the JavaScript and Content & Publishing / Publishing ecosystem, and it is distributed under the MIT license. The README describes it as a library that provides building blocks for realizing custom text editors and web based publishing systems, and it was developed to power the online editing platform Substance.
read the full substance overview →
About Tangent
Tangent is a local note writing and personal knowledge management tool, distributed as a TypeScript monorepo, for writers, researchers, and personal knowledge management practitioners who want styled, link connected notes stored on their own machine rather than in a hosted service.
read the full Tangent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is substance or Tangent more popular?
substance has 2,733 GitHub stars and Tangent has 552. substance has the larger community by that measure.
Are substance and Tangent free?
Both are open source. substance is licensed under MIT and Tangent under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between substance and Tangent?
substance is written in JavaScript and Tangent 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, substance or Tangent?
Choose substance if you want the larger community (2,733 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Tangent if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.