--- title: "manifest vs moby" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/mnfst-manifest-vs-moby-moby" tools: ["mnfst-manifest", "moby-moby"] --- # manifest vs moby *GraphCanon updated Jul 15, 2026* ## Verdict Pick manifest when manifest is primarily TypeScript; moby is Go; pick moby when moby is primarily Go; manifest is TypeScript. [manifest](https://manifest.build) reports 7.3k GitHub stars, 474 forks, and 94 open issues, last pushed Jul 15, 2026. [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 [manifest's repository](https://github.com/mnfst/manifest) and [moby's repository](https://github.com/moby/moby). | | [manifest](/tools/mnfst-manifest.md) | [moby](/tools/moby-moby.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Connect Your Agents And Harnesses With Any Provider 🦚 | The Moby Project - a collaborative project for the container ecosystem to assemble container-based systems | | Stars | 7,260 | 71,899 | | Forks | 474 | 19,126 | | Open issues | 94 | 3,821 | | Language | TypeScript | Go | | Adopt for | - | - | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | MIT | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | AI Agents, Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | Developer Tools, Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [manifest](/tools/mnfst-manifest.md) | [moby](/tools/moby-moby.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Days since push | 0d | 1d | | Open issues (now) | 94 | 3.8k | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/mnfst-manifest/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/moby-moby/trust.md) | ## Choose when ### Choose manifest if… - manifest is primarily TypeScript; moby is Go. - License: manifest is MIT, moby is Apache-2.0. - Tags unique to manifest: ai, ai-sdk, anthropic, byok. - Also covers AI Agents. ### Choose moby if… - moby is primarily Go; manifest is TypeScript. - License: moby is Apache-2.0, manifest is MIT. - Tags unique to moby: containers, docker, go, golang. - Also covers Developer Tools. - moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ## When NOT to use manifest - AI Agents: Don't use an agent loop when a deterministic workflow would do; agents add latency, cost, and non-determinism. - 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 manifest and moby? manifest: Connect Your Agents And Harnesses With Any Provider 🦚. 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 manifest over moby? Choose manifest over moby when manifest is primarily TypeScript; moby is Go; License: manifest is MIT, moby is Apache-2.0; Tags unique to manifest: ai, ai-sdk, anthropic, byok; Also covers AI Agents. ### When should I choose moby over manifest? Choose moby over manifest when moby is primarily Go; manifest is TypeScript; License: moby is Apache-2.0, manifest is MIT; Tags unique to moby: containers, docker, go, golang; Also covers Developer Tools; moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ### When should I avoid manifest? AI Agents: Don't use an agent loop when a deterministic workflow would do; agents add latency, cost, and non-determinism. 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 manifest or moby more popular on GitHub? moby has more GitHub stars (71,899 vs 7,260). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are manifest and moby open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (manifest: MIT, moby: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to manifest or moby? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [manifest alternatives](/tools/mnfst-manifest/alternatives) and [moby alternatives](/tools/moby-moby/alternatives) ([manifest markdown twin](/tools/mnfst-manifest/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/mnfst-manifest-vs-moby-moby.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, manifest or moby? manifest: 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 manifest and moby? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [manifest trust report](/tools/mnfst-manifest/trust); [moby trust report](/tools/moby-moby/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=mnfst-manifest`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=mnfst-manifest) - 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/_