head to head · open source
twinny vs gentle-shell
twinny has 3,692 GitHub stars, 240 forks, 48 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. gentle-shell has 1,960 stars, 260 forks, 369 open issues and last shipped yesterday. twinny leads on adoption by 88% (3,692 vs 1,960 stars). twinny is written in TypeScript under MIT; gentle-shell is written in TypeScript under MIT. twinny has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, gentle-shell 13%. gentle-shell was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (code-review, developer-tools, llm), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| twinny | gentle-shell | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 3.7K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 240 | ⑂ 260 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick twinny if
- You weight community size — 3.7K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick gentle-shell if
- You want the gentle-shell feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and gentle-shell fits your workflow better
About twinny
twinny The AI coding assistant for Visual Studio Code that stays inside your network. Code completion, inline edits, chat, code review and more, on a model server you choose: on your machine, on another of your devices, on a hosted API, or on one gateway your whole team shares. Free, open source, MIT licensed, no telemetry, no sign in. Install from the Marketplace · Documentation · What's new · Changelog · Teams · 中文 · Português (BR) For teams: one gateway on your network serves every developer's VS Code, with a key per person, usage, policy and an admin page. npx twinny server quickstart sets it up. Free for…
read the full twinny overview →
About gentle-shell
gentle shell™ Your coding agent for controlled development in the workspace you lead. Website · Quickstart · Docs · Wiki Your terminal can run an agent. Your workspace should help you lead it. gentle shell is your coding agent, bringing your changes, tasks, and engineering workflow together—built for Pi. One workspace. A coding agent you direct. A workflow you can inspect. BUILT FOR PI · Coding agent workspace · Focused agents · ODD + optional SDD ★ Star gentle shell on GitHub Built for Pi. Shaped by Gentle AI. Features gentle shell — Your coding agent, in the workspace you lead A complete workspace for the…
read the full gentle-shell overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Version Control & Collaboration projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Version Control & Collaboration field.
Frequently asked questions
Is twinny or gentle-shell more popular?
twinny has 3,692 GitHub stars and gentle-shell has 1,960. twinny has the larger community by that measure.
Are twinny and gentle-shell free?
Both are open source. twinny is licensed under MIT and gentle-shell under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between twinny and gentle-shell?
twinny is written in TypeScript and gentle-shell 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, twinny or gentle-shell?
Choose twinny if you want the larger community (3,692 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose gentle-shell if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.