head to head · open source
Windmill vs loopx
Windmill has 17,982 GitHub stars, 1,097 forks, 852 open issues and last shipped yesterday. loopx has 5,903 stars, 559 forks, 102 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Windmill leads on adoption by 205% (17,982 vs 5,903 stars). Windmill is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; loopx is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Windmill has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, loopx 9%. loopx was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | loopx | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 5.9K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 559 |
| 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 loopx if
- You want the loopx feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and loopx 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 loopx
LoopX is an open, provider neutral, local first control plane for long horizon AI agents that preserves objectives, gates, todos, evidence, quota, and handoffs across turns for developers and teams running durable, governed work on harnesses such as Codex, Claude Code, and Cursor.
read the full loopx overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Windmill or loopx more popular?
Windmill has 17,982 GitHub stars and loopx has 5,903. Windmill has the larger community by that measure.
Are Windmill and loopx free?
Both are open source. Windmill has no licence declared in this registry, and loopx is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Windmill and loopx?
Windmill is written in Rust and loopx in Python. 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 loopx?
Choose Windmill if you want the larger community (17,982 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose loopx if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.