Comparison
willow vs moby
Verdict
Pick willow when willow is primarily C; moby is Go; pick moby when moby is primarily Go; willow is C.
Markdown twin · willow alternatives · moby alternatives
GraphCanon updated today
Trust & integrity
| Signal | willow | moby |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | Slowing (147d since push) As of today · github_public_v1 | Very active (1d since push) As of today · github_public_v1 |
| Provenance | Not a fork · Organization account As of today · github_public_v1 | Not a fork · Organization account As of today · github_public_v1 |
| Security (OSV) | No lockfile As of today · none | No criticals As of today · osv@v1 |
Tagline
- willow
- Open source, local, and self-hosted Amazon Echo/Google Home competitive Voice Assistant alternative
- moby
- The Moby Project - a collaborative project for the container ecosystem to assemble container-based systems
Stars
- willow
- 3.1k
- moby
- 72k
Forks
- willow
- 120
- moby
- 19k
Open issues
- willow
- 27
- moby
- 3.8k
Language
- willow
- C
- moby
- Go
Adopt for
- willow
- -
- moby
- -
Persona
- willow
- -
- moby
- -
Runtime
- willow
- -
- moby
- -
License
- willow
- Apache-2.0
- moby
- Apache-2.0
Last pushed
- willow
- Feb 13, 2026
- moby
- Jul 10, 2026
Categories
- willow
- LLM Frameworks, Speech & Audio, Inference & Serving
- moby
- LLM Frameworks, Developer Tools, Inference & Serving
Trust and health
Maintenance
- willow
- Slowing (36%)
- moby
- Very active (96%)
Days since push
- willow
- 147d
- moby
- 1d
Open issues (now)
- willow
- 27
- moby
- 3.8k
Security scan
- willow
- No lockfile
- moby
- No criticals
Full report
- willow
- Trust report
- moby
- Trust report
Choose willow if…
- willow is primarily C; moby is Go.
- Tags unique to willow: esp-adf, deep-learning, google-home, esp-idf.
- Also covers Speech & Audio.
When NOT to use willow
- Last GitHub push was 148 days ago (slowing maintenance, Feb 13, 2026). Validate activity before betting a new project on willow.
- LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves.
- Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic.
Choose moby if…
- moby is primarily Go; willow is C.
- Tags unique to moby: go, docker, golang, containers.
- Also covers Developer Tools.
When NOT to use moby
- LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves.
- 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.
Explore
Sources
Every stat on this page traces to a dated GitHub sync, license file, enrichment field, or trust scan.
- GitHub stars (HeyWillow/willow) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- GitHub forks (HeyWillow/willow) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- Last push (HeyWillow/willow) · observed Feb 13, 2026
- License file (Apache-2.0) · observed Jul 11, 2026
- Trust scan (lockfile / OSV) · observed Jul 11, 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: willow 3.1k · moby 72k (synced Jul 11, 2026).
Common questions
- What is the difference between willow and moby?
- willow: Open source, local, and self-hosted Amazon Echo/Google Home competitive Voice Assistant alternative. 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 willow over moby?
- Choose willow over moby when willow is primarily C; moby is Go; Tags unique to willow: esp-adf, deep-learning, google-home, esp-idf; Also covers Speech & Audio.
- When should I choose moby over willow?
- Choose moby over willow when moby is primarily Go; willow is C; Tags unique to moby: go, docker, golang, containers; Also covers Developer Tools.
- When should I avoid willow?
- Last GitHub push was 148 days ago (slowing maintenance, Feb 13, 2026). Validate activity before betting a new project on willow. LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic.
- When should I avoid moby?
- LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. 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.
- Is willow or moby more popular on GitHub?
- moby has more GitHub stars (71,899 vs 3,066). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints.
- Are willow and moby open source?
- Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (willow: Apache-2.0, moby: Apache-2.0).
- Where can I find alternatives to willow or moby?
- GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at willow alternatives and moby alternatives (willow 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, willow or moby?
- willow: Slowing. 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 willow and moby?
- GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: willow trust report; moby trust report.