head to head · open source
Windmill vs VvvebJs
Windmill has 17,982 GitHub stars, 1,097 forks, 852 open issues and last shipped today. VvvebJs has 8,678 stars, 1,836 forks, 304 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Windmill leads on adoption by 107% (17,982 vs 8,678 stars). Windmill is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; VvvebJs is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. Windmill has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, VvvebJs 21%. Windmill was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (low-code, open-source), 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
| Windmill | VvvebJs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 8.7K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-07-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Windmill if
- You weight community size — 18K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick VvvebJs if
- You want the VvvebJs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and VvvebJs fits your workflow better
About Windmill
Windmill is an open source developer platform for internal code, including APIs, background jobs, workflows, and UIs. It lives in the self hostable low code automation ecosystem and supports Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL, GraphQL, PowerShell, Rust, and more. The project is positioned as an open source alternative to Zapier and, in the README, to Retool, Pipedream, Superblocks, and a simplified Temporal.
read the full Windmill overview →
About VvvebJs
VvvebJs is a drag and drop page builder library written in vanilla JavaScript. It ships without dependencies and without a build step, so the editor runs directly in the browser from a plain HTML file rather than from a compiled bundle. The project lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and sits in the low code and no code tooling space: it is a library and editor surface rather than a finished product, and it is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full VvvebJs overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Windmill or VvvebJs more popular?
Windmill has 17,982 GitHub stars and VvvebJs has 8,678. Windmill has the larger community by that measure.
Are Windmill and VvvebJs free?
Both are open source. Windmill has no licence declared in this registry, and VvvebJs is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Windmill and VvvebJs?
Windmill is written in Rust and VvvebJs in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Windmill or VvvebJs?
Choose Windmill if you want the larger community (17,982 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose VvvebJs if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.