--- title: "elia vs moby" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/darrenburns-elia-vs-moby-moby" tools: ["darrenburns-elia", "moby-moby"] --- # elia vs moby *GraphCanon updated Jul 15, 2026* ## Verdict Pick elia when elia is primarily Python; moby is Go; pick moby when moby is primarily Go; elia is Python. [elia](https://github.com/darrenburns/elia) reports 2.5k GitHub stars, 155 forks, and 24 open issues, last pushed Oct 10, 2024. [moby](https://mobyproject.org/) has 72k stars, 19k forks, and 3.8k open issues, last pushed Jul 10, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [elia's repository](https://github.com/darrenburns/elia) and [moby's repository](https://github.com/moby/moby). | | [elia](/tools/darrenburns-elia.md) | [moby](/tools/moby-moby.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | A snappy, keyboard-centric terminal user interface for interacting with large language models. Chat with ChatGPT, Claude, Llama 3, Phi 3, Mistral, Gemma and more. | The Moby Project - a collaborative project for the container ecosystem to assemble container-based systems | | Stars | 2,476 | 71,899 | | Forks | 155 | 19,126 | | Open issues | 24 | 3,821 | | Language | Python | Go | | Adopt for | - | - | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | Developer Tools, Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | Developer Tools, Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [elia](/tools/darrenburns-elia.md) | [moby](/tools/moby-moby.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Dormant (18%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 642d | 1d | | Open issues (now) | 24 | 3.8k | | Owner type | User | Organization | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/darrenburns-elia/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/moby-moby/trust.md) | ## Choose when ### Choose elia if… - elia is primarily Python; moby is Go. - Tags unique to elia: ai, chatgpt, claude, gemma. - Leaner open-issue backlog (24). ### Choose moby if… - moby is primarily Go; elia is Python. - Tags unique to moby: containers, docker, go, golang. - moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ## When NOT to use elia - Last GitHub push was 642 days ago (dormant maintenance, Oct 10, 2024). Validate activity before betting a new project on elia. - Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. - Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. - LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ## When NOT to use moby - Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. - Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. - LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between elia and moby? elia: A snappy, keyboard-centric terminal user interface for interacting with large language models. Chat with ChatGPT, Claude, Llama 3, Phi 3, Mistral, Gemma and more.. moby: The Moby Project - a collaborative project for the container ecosystem to assemble container-based systems. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose elia over moby? Choose elia over moby when elia is primarily Python; moby is Go; Tags unique to elia: ai, chatgpt, claude, gemma; Leaner open-issue backlog (24). ### When should I choose moby over elia? Choose moby over elia when moby is primarily Go; elia is Python; Tags unique to moby: containers, docker, go, golang; moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ### When should I avoid elia? Last GitHub push was 642 days ago (dormant maintenance, Oct 10, 2024). Validate activity before betting a new project on elia. Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ### When should I avoid moby? Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ### Is elia or moby more popular on GitHub? moby has more GitHub stars (71,899 vs 2,476). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are elia and moby open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (elia: Apache-2.0, moby: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to elia or moby? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [elia alternatives](/tools/darrenburns-elia/alternatives) and [moby alternatives](/tools/moby-moby/alternatives) ([elia markdown twin](/tools/darrenburns-elia/alternatives.md), [moby markdown twin](/tools/moby-moby/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/darrenburns-elia-vs-moby-moby.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, elia or moby? elia: Dormant. moby: Very active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for elia and moby? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [elia trust report](/tools/darrenburns-elia/trust); [moby trust report](/tools/moby-moby/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=darrenburns-elia`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=darrenburns-elia) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_