vacuum vs OpenLint

vacuum7.9Visit OOpenLint7.6Visit

Higher score vacuum #4 in API Linting Tools 7.9/10 Open source ✓ 0 of 5 features Visit vacuum

vs

O OpenLint #6 in API Linting Tools 7.6/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit OpenLint

• vacuum fits best

  Teams wanting broad API linting and reporting

• OpenLint fits best

  Teams needing custom rules across API formats

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Side by side

Feature	vacuum 7.9/10 Visit ↗	OOpenLint 7.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	7.9	7.6
Ranking	#4 in API Linting Tools	#6 in API Linting Tools
Best for	Teams wanting broad API linting and reporting	Teams needing custom rules across API formats
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Open source	Free plan
Free plan	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	macOS, Linux	Linux, Windows, macOS
Support	Community, Docs	Community
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features vacuum 0/5 · OpenLint 4/5
OpenAPI linting	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
AsyncAPI linting	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
GraphQL schema linting	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Custom rules	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
CI integration	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Our review
Pros	Lints OpenAPI, AsyncAPI 3 and JSON Schema documents Supports Spectral-compatible rulesets and language-server integration Adds dashboards, offline HTML reports and CI/CD workflows	Built-in rulesets cover OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, and Arazzo. Teams can create custom rulesets and JavaScript or TypeScript functions. Runs locally and can be used in CI workflows.
Cons	Primarily a CLI and Go library, not a hosted API design workspace Requires teams to integrate it into local development or pipelines Support channels are community and documentation	Support is community-based. The project was established in September 2026, so its track record is young. It focuses on linting JSON and YAML API artifacts, not broader API management.
Our verdict	vacuum is an open-source command-line tool and Go library for developers and API teams that want automated quality checks on API specifications. Its scope spans OpenAPI, AsyncAPI 3 and JSON Schema, making it a fit for teams working across… Read the review →	OpenLint is a community-developed, open-source linter and ruleset project for teams that want to check API artifacts against consistent standards. Its CLI and packages lint JSON and YAML, with built-in rulesets for OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, and… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• vacuum — where it wins

  • Lints OpenAPI, AsyncAPI 3 and JSON Schema documents
  • Supports Spectral-compatible rulesets and language-server integration
  • Adds dashboards, offline HTML reports and CI/CD workflows

  Where it doesn't

  • Primarily a CLI and Go library, not a hosted API design workspace
  • Requires teams to integrate it into local development or pipelines
  • Support channels are community and documentation

• OpenLint — where it wins

  • Built-in rulesets cover OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, and Arazzo.
  • Teams can create custom rulesets and JavaScript or TypeScript functions.
  • Runs locally and can be used in CI workflows.

  Where it doesn't

  • Support is community-based.
  • The project was established in September 2026, so its track record is young.
  • It focuses on linting JSON and YAML API artifacts, not broader API management.

• vacuum7.9/10 · Open source

  A broad, local-first API linting toolkit with reporting and CI support.

  Visit vacuumFull verdict →
• OOpenLint7.6/10 · Free plan

  A community-built CLI for linting OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, and Arazzo with custom rules.

  Visit OpenLintFull verdict →