head to head · open source
Trigger vs livecontext-ce
Trigger has 16,706 GitHub stars, 1,522 forks, 342 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. livecontext-ce has 776 stars, 73 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 29 days ago. Trigger leads on adoption by 2,053% (16,706 vs 776 stars). Trigger is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; livecontext-ce is written in Java under a custom or non-standard licence. Trigger has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, livecontext-ce 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, ai-agents, automation, mcp), 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 | livecontext-ce | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 776 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 73 |
| 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 livecontext-ce if
- You want the livecontext-ce feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and livecontext-ce 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 livecontext-ce
LiveContext The AI automation platform. One message in, a working automation out. Describe the job in chat and LiveContext builds it in front of you: a workflow you can read, AI agents with scoped access and budgets you control, and a small app your team actually uses. Chat, Workflow, Agent and App in one self hosted platform. No code to write, nothing to stitch together. An open source, self hosted alternative to n8n, Zapier and Make, with AI agents built in. The builder, built by chat: one message in, a working automation out. Five real scenarios, one loop. Watch it full size · Try the hosted version ⭐…
read the full livecontext-ce overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Trigger or livecontext-ce more popular?
Trigger has 16,706 GitHub stars and livecontext-ce has 776. Trigger has the larger community by that measure.
Are Trigger and livecontext-ce free?
Both are open source. Trigger is licensed under Apache-2.0, and livecontext-ce has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Trigger and livecontext-ce?
Trigger is written in TypeScript and livecontext-ce in Java. 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 livecontext-ce?
Choose Trigger if you want the larger community (16,706 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose livecontext-ce if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.