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10 top picks · 1 audience ranking

Best open source developer tools

The best open source developer tool is OpenHands, with 90,074 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; code-server and Portainer are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: OpenHands leads for solo developers. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 34 apps in the developer tools category of the appsgit catalog.

Updated · data from GitHub, refreshed nightly

Top picks

  1. Rank 1:

    OpenHands

    OpenHands/OpenHands

    Platform for AI software development agents that write code and run commands.

    AI & LLM ToolsTypeScriptDocker

    AI-nativeOpenHands has 90,074 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 3,155 commits in the last year.

  2. Rank 2:

    code-server

    coder/code-server

    VS Code in the browser, hosted on a remote server.

    Developer ToolsTypeScriptDocker

    code-server has 79,549 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 296 commits in the last year.

  3. Rank 3:

    Portainer

    portainer/portainer

    Web UI for managing Docker, Swarm and Kubernetes environments.

    Self-hosting PlatformsTypeScriptDocker

    Portainer has 38,621 GitHub stars, uses the Zlib license, ships a Docker image and had 789 commits in the last year.

1 of 2 · 10 picks

Top picks

10 of the 34 apps in the developer tools category, ranked on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    OpenHands

    Platform for AI software development agents that write code and run commands.

    AI-nativeOpenHands has 90,074 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 3,155 commits in the last year.

  2. 2

    code-server

    VS Code in the browser, hosted on a remote server.

    code-server has 79,549 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 296 commits in the last year.

  3. 3

    Portainer

    Web UI for managing Docker, Swarm and Kubernetes environments.

    Portainer has 38,621 GitHub stars, uses the Zlib license, ships a Docker image and had 789 commits in the last year.

  4. 4

    Langfuse

    LLM engineering platform for model tracing, prompt management, and application evaluation. Langfuse helps teams collaboratively debug, analyze, and iterate on their LLM applications such as chatbots…

    AI-nativeLangfuse has 35,416 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 4,298 commits in the last year; it replaces Sentry.

  5. 5

    k6

    Modern load testing tool using JavaScript scripts.

    k6 has 31,797 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 844 commits in the last year.

  6. 6

    Temporal

    Durable execution platform for reliable workflows and background jobs.

    Temporal has 23,487 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 2,022 commits in the last year.

  7. 7

    PostHog

    Product analytics, session recording, feature flagging and a/b testing that you can self-host (alternative to Mixpanel, Amplitude, Heap, HotJar, Optimizely).

    AI-nativePostHog has 40,156 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 35,167 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics and Metabase Cloud.

  8. 8

    Coder

    Remote development machines on your own infrastructure.

    Coder has 16,857 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 5,468 commits in the last year.

  9. 9

    Verdaccio

    Lightweight private npm proxy registry.

    Verdaccio has 17,911 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 536 commits in the last year.

  10. 10

    Sentry Self-Hosted

    Powerful error tracking platform with wide language support and a robust API.

    Sentry Self-Hosted has 45,479 GitHub stars, is source-available under the FSL 1.1 (Apache 2.0 future licence) (not an open-source license) and had 17,926 commits in the last year; it replaces Sentry.

2 of 2 · 5 picks

Best for solo developers

Ranked for solo developers on GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits.

  1. 1

    OpenHands

    Platform for AI software development agents that write code and run commands.

    AI-nativeOpenHands has 90,074 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, is written in TypeScript and had 3,155 commits in the last year. For solo developers it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  2. 2

    code-server

    VS Code in the browser, hosted on a remote server.

    code-server has 79,549 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, is written in TypeScript and had 296 commits in the last year. For solo developers it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  3. 3

    Portainer

    Web UI for managing Docker, Swarm and Kubernetes environments.

    Portainer has 38,621 GitHub stars, uses the Zlib license, ships a Docker image, is written in TypeScript and had 789 commits in the last year. For solo developers it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  4. 4

    Langfuse

    LLM engineering platform for model tracing, prompt management, and application evaluation. Langfuse helps teams collaboratively debug, analyze, and iterate on their LLM applications such as chatbots…

    AI-nativeLangfuse has 35,416 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image, is written in TypeScript and had 4,298 commits in the last year; it replaces Sentry. For solo developers it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

  5. 5

    k6

    Modern load testing tool using JavaScript scripts.

    k6 has 31,797 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image, is written in Go and had 844 commits in the last year. For solo developers it also scores on a Docker image, an open-source license and a commit in the last 90 days.

FAQ

Questions and answers

Still curious? Email info@appsgit.com.

What is the best open source developer tool?

The best open source developer tool is OpenHands, with 90,074 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; code-server and Portainer are strong alternatives. This page also breaks the picks down by team size and use: OpenHands leads for solo developers. The overall ranking weighs GitHub stars, commits in the last year, Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits across the 34 apps in the developer tools category of the appsgit catalog.

Is OpenHands free?

Yes. OpenHands is open-source software released under the MIT license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

Which open source developer tool is best for a solo developer?

OpenHands ranks first for solo developers, with 90,074 GitHub stars, the MIT license and a Docker image; code-server and Portainer follow. The solo developers ranking adds points for Docker images, open-source licenses and recent commits on top of stars and activity.

Can I self-host these developer tools with Docker?

Yes, 8 of the 10 picks. OpenHands, code-server and Portainer publish Docker images, so you can run them on a VPS or home server with Docker Compose. The others install from their own packages or source; follow each project's install guide.

Are all of these developer tools open source?

9 of the 10 apps on this list are open source; 1 is source-available. Source-available licenses add conditions, such as limits on hosted or commercial use, so read them before you deploy.

Which of these developer tools is the most actively developed?

PostHog, with 35,167 commits in the last 12 months and a latest release, desktop-v0.61.621, from October 2026. Activity is a good sign that bugs and security issues get fixed.

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