head to head · open source
Tabby vs Forgecode
Tabby has 33,917 GitHub stars, 1,792 forks, 335 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Forgecode has 7,633 stars, 1,456 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Tabby leads on adoption by 344% (33,917 vs 7,633 stars). Tabby is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; Forgecode is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Tabby has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Forgecode 19%. Forgecode 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
| Tabby | Forgecode | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 34K | ★ 7.6K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-06-30 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Tabby if
- You weight community size — 34K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Forgecode if
- You want the Forgecode feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Forgecode fits your workflow better
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 →
About Forgecode
⚒️ Forge: AI Enhanced Terminal Development Environment A comprehensive coding agent that integrates AI capabilities with your development environment curl fsSL sh Table of Contents Quickstart Usage Examples Why Forge? How Forge Works: Three Modes Interactive Mode (TUI) One Shot CLI Mode ZSH Plugin Mode ( : prefix) ZSH Plugin: The : Prefix System Agents Sending Prompts Attaching Files Conversation Management Git Integration Shell Command Tools Session & Configuration Skills Customizing Agent Behavior Semantic Search (Workspace) Quick Reference: All : Commands Command Line Options Advanced Configuration Provider…
read the full Forgecode overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Tabby or Forgecode more popular?
Tabby has 33,917 GitHub stars and Forgecode has 7,633. Tabby has the larger community by that measure.
Are Tabby and Forgecode free?
Both are open source. Tabby has no licence declared in this registry, and Forgecode is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Tabby and Forgecode?
Tabby is written in Rust and Forgecode 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, Tabby or Forgecode?
Choose Tabby if you want the larger community (33,917 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Forgecode if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.