E2B vs herdr
herdr is much bigger: 35.4k stars against 13.7k. Over the days we have tracked them E2B moved +4.7% and herdr +54.7%, so herdr is growing faster right now.
They split the axes: E2B leads on model freedom, herdr on customization and setup ease.
Stars and commit dates come from our own daily tracking. The six axes are read off each project's documentation by our review pipeline, so they describe what a project says about itself, not what we measured in its code.
Where they stand today
Provides secure, isolated cloud sandboxes for running AI-generated code with SDKs for JavaScript and Python, allowing real-world tool access in a managed environment.
- Stars
- 13.7k
- Tracked growth
- +4.7%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 18h ago
- Language
- Python
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Cost to run
- E2B cloud (API key); self-hostable
A terminal-first agent multiplexer that runs as a single Rust binary with detachable sessions, tmux-style interaction, and a plugin marketplace.
- Stars
- 35.4k
- Tracked growth
- +54.7%
- Maturity
- ●●●●●
- Last commit
- 9h ago
- Language
- Rust
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Cost to run
- Free, local install
Six axes, head to head
Each axis runs 0 to 5. The label under a score is what that project's own docs claim, not a category average.
| Axis | E2B | herdr |
|---|---|---|
Context depth How much of your codebase it sees before it answers: the open diff, the diff plus related files, or the whole repository. | ●●●●● Command-only | ●●●●● No repo context |
Noise control How it keeps output volume down — severity thresholds, deduplication, incremental runs over new commits only. | ●●●●● None | ●●●●● None mentioned |
Customization How far it bends to your team: custom rules, prompts, style guides, per-path config. | ●●●●● Minimal config | ●●●●● Plugins & config |
Privacy Whether your code stays on your own infrastructure: fully local, self-hostable, or cloud API only. | ●●●●● Self-hostable | ●●●●● Runs fully local |
Model freedom Whether you can point it at any provider, or it is wired to one. | ●●●●● Bring-your-own-key | ●●●●● Other/unspecified |
Setup ease What it takes to get a first useful run out of it. | ●●●●● API key + SDK | ●●●●● One-command start |
Which one to pick
Pick E2B if…
Secure sandboxing — choose E2B when you need to execute AI-generated code safely in isolated sandboxes with an option to self-host your infrastructure.
- Model freedom: Bring-your-own-key (5/5 against 1/5)
Pick herdr if…
Local-first & easy setup — install one binary to run detachable, terminal-native agent sessions with plugin support and a socket API.
- Customization: Plugins & config (5/5 against 2/5)
- Setup ease: One-command start (5/5 against 3/5)
What people want from each one
e2b-dev/E2B
herdrdev/herdr
Questions people ask
Is E2B better than herdr?
They split the axes: E2B leads on model freedom, herdr on customization and setup ease. E2B is worth picking when secure sandboxing — choose E2B when you need to execute AI-generated code safely in isolated sandboxes with an option to self-host your infrastructure.
Which of E2B and herdr keeps my code private?
E2B: Self-hostable (4/5). herdr: Runs fully local (5/5).
What does each one cost to run?
E2B: E2B cloud (API key); self-hostable. herdr: Free, local install.
Full profiles: e2b-dev/E2B and herdrdev/herdr. Everything else in Runtimes & sandboxes.