# code-server vs harness

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | code-server | harness |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 ✓ | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 166 in Developer Tools | #3 of 28 in CI/CD |
| GitHub stars | 79 723 ✓ | 38 746 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +325 ✓ | +319 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 30 ✓ | 6 |
| Latest release | v4.143.1 · 23 Oct 2026 ✓ | v2.28.2 · 20 Apr 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

code-server scores 83/100 against 80/100 for harness, so it is the safer default.

code-server ships more often: 30 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for harness.

If you want the quickest setup, harness is easier to run; code-server needs more configuration.

## Details

- [code-server](https://selfhost.directory/project/code-server) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/code-server.md)
- [harness](https://selfhost.directory/project/harness) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/harness.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/code-server-vs-harness