head to head · open source
wtf vs headlamp
wtf has 17,095 GitHub stars, 864 forks, 107 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. headlamp has 7,310 stars, 1,112 forks, 1,422 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. wtf leads on adoption by 134% (17,095 vs 7,310 stars). wtf is written in Go under MPL-2.0; headlamp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. wtf has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, headlamp 15%. headlamp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (dashboard, devops), 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
| wtf | headlamp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 7.3K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 864 | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick wtf if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick headlamp if
- You want the headlamp feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and headlamp fits your workflow better
About wtf
WTF (also known as wtfutil) is a free, open source personal information dashboard that runs in the terminal, built for developers and technical people who want at a glance access to important but infrequently consulted data without leaving the command line.
About headlamp
Headlamp is an Apache 2.0 licensed, vendor independent Kubernetes web UI written in TypeScript that runs either inside a cluster or locally as a desktop application, and it is built for platform engineers, cluster operators, and developers who need to inspect and change Kubernetes resources through a graphical interface.
read the full headlamp overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is wtf or headlamp more popular?
wtf has 17,095 GitHub stars and headlamp has 7,310. wtf has the larger community by that measure.
Are wtf and headlamp free?
Both are open source. wtf is licensed under MPL-2.0 and headlamp under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between wtf and headlamp?
wtf is written in Go and headlamp 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, wtf or headlamp?
Choose wtf if you want the larger community (17,095 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose headlamp if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.