head to head · open source
Appwrite vs extension.js
Appwrite has 57,400 GitHub stars, 5,725 forks, 1,008 open issues and last shipped yesterday. extension.js has 5,159 stars, 139 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Appwrite leads on adoption by 1,013% (57,400 vs 5,159 stars). Appwrite is written in PHP under BSD-3-Clause; extension.js is written in TypeScript under MIT. Appwrite has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, extension.js 3%. extension.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Appwrite | extension.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 57K | ★ 5.2K |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | PHP | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.7K | ⑂ 139 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Appwrite if
- You weight community size — 57K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick extension.js if
- You want the extension.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and extension.js fits your workflow better
About Appwrite
Appwrite is an open source backend platform that consolidates infrastructure services—authentication, databases, storage, functions, messaging, hosting, and real time capabilities—into a single, unified system. It runs as a self hosted service or via a managed cloud offering (Appwrite Cloud), targeting developers who want to avoid assembling and maintaining disparate backend tools.
read the full Appwrite overview →
About extension.js
extension.js is an open source cross browser extension framework written in TypeScript under the MIT license. It targets Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari, and it lets developers build extensions without a separate build configuration for each browser.
read the full extension.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Appwrite or extension.js more popular?
Appwrite has 57,400 GitHub stars and extension.js has 5,159. Appwrite has the larger community by that measure.
Are Appwrite and extension.js free?
Both are open source. Appwrite is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and extension.js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Appwrite and extension.js?
Appwrite is written in PHP and extension.js in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Appwrite or extension.js?
Choose Appwrite if you want the larger community (57,400 stars) or its BSD-3-Clause licence terms. Choose extension.js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.