head to head · open source
LibreTranslate vs WritingTools
LibreTranslate has 16,674 GitHub stars, 1,707 forks, 126 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. WritingTools has 2,455 stars, 159 forks, 79 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. LibreTranslate leads on adoption by 579% (16,674 vs 2,455 stars). LibreTranslate is written in Python under AGPL-3.0; WritingTools is written in Swift under GPL-3.0. LibreTranslate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, WritingTools 6%. LibreTranslate 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
| LibreTranslate | WritingTools | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-09-03 | 2026-08-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 159 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LibreTranslate if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick WritingTools if
- You want the WritingTools feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and WritingTools fits your workflow better
About LibreTranslate
LibreTranslate is a free and open source machine translation API written in Python and released under the AGPL 3.0 license. It lives in the open source translation ecosystem and is positioned as a self hosted alternative to hosted translation services. The project does not rely on proprietary software such as Google or Azure for translation. Instead, it uses the open source Argos Translate library as its translation engine.
read the full LibreTranslate overview →
About WritingTools
WritingTools is an open source, system wide writing assistant for Windows, Linux, and macOS. It is inspired by Apple Intelligence Writing Tools and uses cloud based or local large language models to proofread, rewrite, summarize, and transform selected text across applications. The project is written in Swift and released under the GPL 3.0 license. The README states it works in nearly any language.
read the full WritingTools overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LibreTranslate or WritingTools more popular?
LibreTranslate has 16,674 GitHub stars and WritingTools has 2,455. LibreTranslate has the larger community by that measure.
Are LibreTranslate and WritingTools free?
Both are open source. LibreTranslate is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and WritingTools under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LibreTranslate and WritingTools?
LibreTranslate is written in Python and WritingTools in Swift. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, LibreTranslate or WritingTools?
Choose LibreTranslate if you want the larger community (16,674 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose WritingTools if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.