Comparison
surf vs moby
Verdict
Pick surf when surf is primarily TypeScript; moby is Go; pick moby when moby is primarily Go; surf is TypeScript.
Markdown twin · surf alternatives · moby alternatives
GraphCanon updated today
Trust & integrity
| Signal | surf | moby |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Very active (6d since push) As of today · github_public_v1 | Very active (1d since push) As of 3d · github_public_v1 |
| Provenance | Not a fork · Organization account As of today · github_public_v1 | Not a fork · Organization account As of 3d · github_public_v1 |
| OSV dependency advisories | No lockfile (source not queried) As of today · osv@v1 | No published findings from this source as of 2026-07-11 As of 3d · osv@v1 |
| deps.dev advisories | Not queried deps.dev@v1 | Not queried deps.dev@v1 |
| OpenSSF Scorecard | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 | Not queried openssf-scorecard@v1 |
Tagline
- surf
- Personal AI Notebooks. Organize files & webpages and generate notes from them. Open source, local & open data, open model choice (incl. local).
- moby
- The Moby Project - a collaborative project for the container ecosystem to assemble container-based systems
Stars
- surf
- 3.5k
- moby
- 72k
Forks
- surf
- 255
- moby
- 19k
Open issues
- surf
- 32
- moby
- 3.8k
Language
- surf
- TypeScript
- moby
- Go
Adopt for
- surf
- -
- moby
- -
Persona
- surf
- -
- moby
- -
Runtime
- surf
- -
- moby
- -
License
- surf
- Apache-2.0
- moby
- Apache-2.0
Last pushed
- surf
- Jul 8, 2026
- moby
- Jul 10, 2026
Categories
- surf
- Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks
- moby
- Developer Tools, Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks
Trust and health
Days since push
- surf
- 6d
- moby
- 1d
Open issues (now)
- surf
- 32
- moby
- 3.8k
OSV dependency advisories
- surf
- No lockfile (source not queried)
- moby
- No published findings from this source as of 2026-07-11
Full report
- surf
- Trust report
- moby
- Trust report
Choose surf if…
- surf is primarily TypeScript; moby is Go.
- Tags unique to surf: claude, deepseek, gemma, knowledge-base.
- Leaner open-issue backlog (32).
When NOT to use surf
- 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.
Choose moby if…
- moby is primarily Go; surf is TypeScript.
- Tags unique to moby: containers, docker, go, golang.
- Also covers Developer Tools.
- moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment.
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.
Explore
Sources
Every stat on this page traces to a dated GitHub sync, license file, enrichment field, or trust scan.
- GitHub stars (deta/surf) · observed Jul 15, 2026
- GitHub forks (deta/surf) · observed Jul 15, 2026
- Last push (deta/surf) · observed Jul 8, 2026
- License file (Apache-2.0) · observed Jul 15, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 15, 2026
- GitHub stars (moby/moby) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- GitHub forks (moby/moby) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- Last push (moby/moby) · observed Jul 10, 2026
- License file (Apache-2.0) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 11, 2026
GitHub stars on cards: surf 3.5k · moby 72k (synced Jul 15, 2026).
Common questions
- What is the difference between surf and moby?
- surf: Personal AI Notebooks. Organize files & webpages and generate notes from them. Open source, local & open data, open model choice (incl. local).. 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 surf over moby?
- Choose surf over moby when surf is primarily TypeScript; moby is Go; Tags unique to surf: claude, deepseek, gemma, knowledge-base; Leaner open-issue backlog (32).
- When should I choose moby over surf?
- Choose moby over surf when moby is primarily Go; surf is TypeScript; Tags unique to moby: containers, docker, go, golang; Also covers Developer Tools; moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment.
- When should I avoid surf?
- 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 surf or moby more popular on GitHub?
- moby has more GitHub stars (71,899 vs 3,476). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.
- Are surf and moby open source?
- Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (surf: Apache-2.0, moby: Apache-2.0).
- Where can I find alternatives to surf or moby?
- GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at surf alternatives and moby alternatives (surf markdown twin, moby markdown twin), 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 mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers.
- Which is better maintained, surf or moby?
- surf: Very active. 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 surf and moby?
- GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: surf trust report; moby trust report.