head to head · open source
ToolJet vs AppSmith
ToolJet has 40,936 GitHub stars, 5,448 forks, 1,204 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppSmith has 40,894 stars, 4,761 forks, 4,467 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ToolJet leads on adoption by 0% (40,936 vs 40,894 stars). ToolJet is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; AppSmith is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. ToolJet has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, AppSmith 12%. AppSmith was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (internal-tools), 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
| ToolJet | AppSmith | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 41K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.4K | ⑂ 4.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ToolJet if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick AppSmith if
- You want the AppSmith 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 AppSmith fits your workflow better
About ToolJet
ToolJet is an open source low code platform for building internal tools—admin panels, dashboards, and operational applications—by connecting to existing databases, APIs, and SaaS systems. It lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and is licensed under AGPL 3.0.
read the full ToolJet overview →
About AppSmith
Appsmith is an open source, Apache 2.0 low code platform written primarily in TypeScript that lets teams build custom internal tools such as admin panels, dashboards, and CRUD applications on top of their own databases and APIs.
read the full AppSmith overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ToolJet or AppSmith more popular?
ToolJet has 40,936 GitHub stars and AppSmith has 40,894. ToolJet has the larger community by that measure.
Are ToolJet and AppSmith free?
Both are open source. ToolJet is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and AppSmith under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ToolJet and AppSmith?
ToolJet is written in JavaScript and AppSmith 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, ToolJet or AppSmith?
Choose ToolJet if you want the larger community (40,936 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose AppSmith if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.