head to head · open source
Cline vs Tabby
Cline has 71,221 GitHub stars, 7,835 forks, 1,288 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tabby has 33,921 stars, 1,793 forks, 335 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Cline leads on adoption by 110% (71,221 vs 33,921 stars). Cline is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Tabby is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. Cline has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Tabby 5%. Cline 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
| Cline | Tabby | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 34K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-06-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 7.8K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Cline if
- You weight community size — 71K 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 Tabby if
- You want the Tabby feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Tabby fits your workflow better
About Cline
Cline The open source coding agent in your IDE, terminal, and desktop. Docs Discord r/cline Feature Requests Join us! CLI Run Cline in your terminal. Interactive chat or fully headless for CI/CD and scripting. Learn more Desktop App Cline as a native app for macOS and Windows. Run agent sessions in any folder, schedule routines, and manage models, plugins, and MCP servers. Download for macOS and Windows VS Code Extension AI coding assistant in your editor. Create files, run commands, browse the web, and use tools with human in the loop approval. Install from VS Marketplace JetBrains Plugin The same Cline…
read the full Cline overview →
About Tabby
🐾 Tabby 📚 Docs • 💬 Slack • 🗺️ Roadmap English 简体中文 日本語 Tabby is a self hosted AI coding assistant, offering an open source and on premises alternative to GitHub Copilot. It boasts several key features: Self contained, with no need for a DBMS or cloud service. OpenAPI interface, easy to integrate with existing infrastructure (e.g Cloud IDE). Supports consumer grade GPUs. 🔥 What's New 12/12/2025 Get your GitHub issues implemented by connecting them to Pochi tasks and create PRs directly from the sidebar with a breakdown of CI/Lint/Test results vscode@0.20.0. 07/02/2025 v0.30 supports indexing GitLab Merge…
read the full Tabby overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Cline or Tabby more popular?
Cline has 71,221 GitHub stars and Tabby has 33,921. Cline has the larger community by that measure.
Are Cline and Tabby free?
Both are open source. Cline is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Tabby has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Cline and Tabby?
Cline is written in TypeScript and Tabby in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Cline or Tabby?
Choose Cline if you want the larger community (71,221 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Tabby if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.