head to head · open source
Trigger vs CodeMachine-CLI
Trigger has 16,706 GitHub stars, 1,522 forks, 342 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. CodeMachine-CLI has 2,512 stars, 234 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. Trigger leads on adoption by 565% (16,706 vs 2,512 stars). Trigger is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; CodeMachine-CLI is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Trigger has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, CodeMachine-CLI 9%. Trigger was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (ai, automation, orchestration, workflow-automation), 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
| Trigger | CodeMachine-CLI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-02-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 234 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Trigger if
- You weight community size — 17K 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 CodeMachine-CLI if
- You want the CodeMachine-CLI 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 CodeMachine-CLI fits your workflow better
About Trigger
Build and deploy fully‑managed AI agents and workflows Website Docs Issues Example projects Feature requests Public roadmap Self hosting About Trigger.dev Trigger.dev is the open source platform for building AI workflows in TypeScript. Long running tasks with retries, queues, observability, and elastic scaling. The platform designed for building AI agents Build AI agents using all the frameworks, services and LLMs you're used to, deploy them to Trigger.dev and get durable, long running tasks with retries, queues, observability, and elastic scaling out of the box. Long running without timeouts : Execute your…
read the full Trigger overview →
About CodeMachine-CLI
npm i g codemachine CodeMachine is an open source tool that orchestrates AI coding agents into repeatable, long running workflows. ⚡️ Every time you use an AI coding agent, you're running a workflow. Fix a bug? You ask questions, reproduce, analyze, plan, implement, test. Build a feature? You research, design, code, review. The workflow lives in your head. You guide the agent through it, step by step, session by session. But every time you start, you rebuild it from scratch. You re explain the process. You remember to ask the right questions. You manage when to clear context, when to push forward, when to loop…
read the full CodeMachine-CLI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Trigger or CodeMachine-CLI more popular?
Trigger has 16,706 GitHub stars and CodeMachine-CLI has 2,512. Trigger has the larger community by that measure.
Are Trigger and CodeMachine-CLI free?
Both are open source. Trigger is licensed under Apache-2.0 and CodeMachine-CLI under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Trigger and CodeMachine-CLI?
Trigger is written in TypeScript and CodeMachine-CLI 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, Trigger or CodeMachine-CLI?
Choose Trigger if you want the larger community (16,706 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose CodeMachine-CLI if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.