# Cobra vs Commander.js

| Attribute | Cobra | Commander.js |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 47.1 (24% (low)) | 53.2 (24% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 0 | 0 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 109,476 | 1,082,389 |
| adoption.github_stars | 44,513 | 28,375 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | - |
| description.long | An open-source CLI framework that enables developers to build production-grade command-line applications with sophisticated command architecture, intelligent flag parsing, and enterprise features built-in. Battle-tested by over 173,000 projects including Kubernetes, Docker, and GitHub CLI. | Commander.js is an open-source npm package that streamlines the creation of Node.js command-line interfaces. It automates command parsing, option processing, subcommand management, and provides integrated help text and error handling for CLI developers. |
| language.primary | Go | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://cobra.dev","retrievedAt":"2026-08-18T12:52:23.169Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://github.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-18T12:49:23.560Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| release.cadence_days | 112 | 77 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.10.2","date":"2025-12-04T00:07:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.10.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.10.1","date":"2025-09-01T16:32:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.10.0","date":"2025-09-01T13:39:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.9.1","date":"2025-02-16T23:54:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.9.0","date":"2025-02-15T18:28:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.8.1","date":"2024-06-14T20:55:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.8.0","date":"2023-11-04T21:06:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.7.0","date":"2023-04-04T14:43:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.6.1","date":"2022-10-24T23:03:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.6.0","date":"2022-10-11T15:37:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.5.0","date":"2022-06-21T02:37:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.4.0","date":"2022-03-10T15:57:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.3.0","date":"2021-12-14T19:05:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.2.1","date":"2021-07-02T15:28:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.2.0","date":"2021-07-01T17:41:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.1.3","date":"2021-02-10T19:42:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.1.2","date":"2021-02-10T01:41:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.1.1","date":"2020-10-18T19:13:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.1.0","date":"2020-10-14T16:44:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/spf13/cobra/releases/tag/v1.0.0","date":"2020-04-10T20:15:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v15.0.0","date":"2026-05-29T09:21:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v15.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v15.0.0-0","date":"2026-02-21T07:24:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v15.0.0-0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v14.0.3","date":"2026-01-31T01:49:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v14.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v14.0.2","date":"2025-10-25T12:09:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v14.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v14.0.1","date":"2025-09-12T07:29:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v14.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v14.0.0","date":"2025-05-18T06:12:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v14.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v13.1.0","date":"2025-01-20T23:31:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v13.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v13.0.0","date":"2024-12-30T05:30:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v13.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v13.0.0-0","date":"2024-12-06T23:14:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v13.0.0-0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v12.1.0","date":"2024-05-18T11:18:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v12.0.0","date":"2024-02-03T09:46:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v12.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v12.0.0-1","date":"2024-01-19T20:17:25Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v12.0.0-1"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v12.0.0-0","date":"2023-11-11T05:46:25Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v12.0.0-0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v11.1.0","date":"2023-10-13T00:32:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v11.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v11.0.0","date":"2023-06-16T00:50:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v11.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v10.0.1","date":"2023-04-15T05:02:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v10.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v10.0.0","date":"2023-01-14T01:54:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v10.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v9.5.0","date":"2023-01-07T07:07:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v9.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v9.4.1","date":"2022-09-30T07:29:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v9.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/tj/commander.js/releases/tag/v9.4.0","date":"2022-07-15T06:21:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v9.4.0"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.2 | 7.6 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fspf13%2Fcobra&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=commander&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (CLI Frameworks)

| Capability | Cobra | Commander.js |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Language | - | - |
| Design style | - | - |
| Nested subcommands | - | - |
| Auto generated help | - | - |
| Plugin system | - | - |
| Interactive prompts | - | - |
| Type validation | - | - |
| Styled rich output | - | - |
| Project scaffolding | - | - |
| Test harness | - | - |
| Open source | - | - |
| License | - | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T14:44:22.999Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*