head to head · open source
witr vs codeburn
witr has 22,906 GitHub stars, 808 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. codeburn has 11,664 stars, 903 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped yesterday. witr leads on adoption by 96% (22,906 vs 11,664 stars). witr is written in Go under Apache-2.0; codeburn is written in TypeScript under MIT. witr has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, codeburn 8%. codeburn was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (cli), 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
| witr | codeburn | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 23K | ★ 12K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-23 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 808 | ⑂ 903 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick witr if
- You weight community size — 23K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick codeburn if
- You want the codeburn feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and codeburn fits your workflow better
About witr
witr Why is this running? Trace any process, port, container, or file back to the exact chain that started it — one command, machine readable JSON, or an interactive TUI. 🎮 Try witr in your browser → Investigate a simulated Linux box — a guided tutorial and free play sandbox, no install required. Purpose • Installation • TUI • Flags • Core Concept • Examples Output Behavior • Platforms • Success Criteria • Sponsors 1. Purpose witr exists to answer a single question: Why is this running? When something is running on a system, whether it is a process, a service, or something bound to a port, there is always a…
About codeburn
See where your AI spend goes. If CodeBurn shows you something your bill never did, star the repo so other developers find it, and consider sponsoring to keep 41 integrations honest. npx codeburn To keep it: npm install g codeburn or brew install codeburn . Needs Node.js 22.13+. Desktop app 0.9.25. The macOS builds are signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple. The problem Your bill gives you a month total. It does not break that down by project, by model or by task, and it does not show which part of it was wasted. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and the rest each write a session file every time you use them…
read the full codeburn overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is witr or codeburn more popular?
witr has 22,906 GitHub stars and codeburn has 11,664. witr has the larger community by that measure.
Are witr and codeburn free?
Both are open source. witr is licensed under Apache-2.0 and codeburn under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between witr and codeburn?
witr is written in Go and codeburn 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, witr or codeburn?
Choose witr if you want the larger community (22,906 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose codeburn if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.