head to head · open source
Windmill vs ODS
Windmill has 17,982 GitHub stars, 1,097 forks, 852 open issues and last shipped today. ODS has 6,607 stars, 943 forks, 2,618 open issues and last shipped today. Windmill leads on adoption by 172% (17,982 vs 6,607 stars). Windmill is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; ODS is written in Python under Apache-2.0. Windmill has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, ODS 14%. ODS 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 | ODS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 18K | ★ 6.6K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 943 |
| 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 ODS if
- You want the ODS 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 ODS 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 ODS
ODS (Osmantic Deployment System) is a Python based, Apache 2.0 licensed installer and runtime that turns a personal computer running Linux, macOS, or Windows into a private AI server. It lives in the self hosted local AI ecosystem alongside the components it wires together: Ollama, Open WebUI, n8n, ComfyUI, and a set of privacy tools. Rather than asking an operator to assemble those projects by hand, ODS installs the stack, selects a model suited to the detected hardware, starts the services, and exposes a local web interface. The repository root holds the public README, installers, security policy, and coordinat…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Windmill or ODS more popular?
Windmill has 17,982 GitHub stars and ODS has 6,607. Windmill has the larger community by that measure.
Are Windmill and ODS free?
Both are open source. Windmill has no licence declared in this registry, and ODS is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Windmill and ODS?
Windmill is written in Rust and ODS 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 ODS?
Choose Windmill if you want the larger community (17,982 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose ODS if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.