head to head · open source
Temporal vs rowboat
Temporal has 24,138 GitHub stars, 2,068 forks, 956 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rowboat has 18,126 stars, 1,816 forks, 167 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Temporal leads on adoption by 33% (24,138 vs 18,126 stars). Temporal is written in Go under MIT; rowboat is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Temporal has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, rowboat 10%. Temporal 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
| Temporal | rowboat | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 18K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Temporal if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick rowboat if
- You want the rowboat 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 rowboat fits your workflow better
About Temporal
Temporal—durable execution platform Introduction • Getting Started • Contributing • Temporal Docs • Temporal 101 Introduction Temporal is a durable execution platform that enables developers to build scalable applications without sacrificing productivity or reliability. The Temporal server executes units of application logic called Workflows in a resilient manner that automatically handles intermittent failures, and retries failed operations. Temporal is a mature technology that originated as a fork of Uber's Cadence. It is developed by Temporal Technologies, a startup by the creators of…
read the full Temporal overview →
About rowboat
Rowboat A desktop AI coworker with a memory of your work and built in surfaces to act on it. 简体中文 · 日本語 · 한국어 · Español · Français · Português Rowboat indexes your work into a living knowledge graph and uses that to get work done on your machine. It includes work surfaces for collaborating with AI: email client, notes, browser, code mode, meeting note taker, and workspaces for different projects. Download latest for Mac/Windows/Linux: Download Demo apps to code · Demo knowledge graph ⭐ If you find Rowboat useful, please star the repo. It helps more people find it. Overview Brain Rowboat indexes email, meetings…
read the full rowboat overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Temporal or rowboat more popular?
Temporal has 24,138 GitHub stars and rowboat has 18,126. Temporal has the larger community by that measure.
Are Temporal and rowboat free?
Both are open source. Temporal is licensed under MIT and rowboat under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Temporal and rowboat?
Temporal is written in Go and rowboat 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, Temporal or rowboat?
Choose Temporal if you want the larger community (24,138 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose rowboat if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.