head to head · open source
tabler vs pencil
tabler has 41,725 GitHub stars, 4,428 forks, 66 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pencil has 9,866 stars, 792 forks, 533 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. tabler leads on adoption by 323% (41,725 vs 9,866 stars). tabler is written in Astro under MIT; pencil is written in JavaScript under GPL-2.0. tabler has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, pencil 8%. tabler 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
| tabler | pencil | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 42K | ★ 9.9K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Astro | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-06-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 792 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick tabler if
- You weight community size — 42K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Astro
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick pencil if
- You want the pencil feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and pencil fits your workflow better
About tabler
Tabler is a free and open source HTML dashboard UI kit built on Bootstrap 5, aimed at developers and teams that need ready made layouts, components and demo pages for admin panels, dashboards and web apps.
read the full tabler overview →
About pencil
Pencil is a free and open source diagramming and GUI prototyping tool, licensed under GPL 2.0, that lets designers and developers sketch wireframes, mockups, and diagrams on the desktop without a commercial licence.
read the full pencil overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is tabler or pencil more popular?
tabler has 41,725 GitHub stars and pencil has 9,866. tabler has the larger community by that measure.
Are tabler and pencil free?
Both are open source. tabler is licensed under MIT and pencil under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between tabler and pencil?
tabler is written in Astro and pencil in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, tabler or pencil?
Choose tabler if you want the larger community (41,725 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose pencil if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.