head to head · open source
puppeteer vs bb
puppeteer has 95,622 GitHub stars, 9,583 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. bb has 3,946 stars, 553 forks, 463 open issues and last shipped yesterday. puppeteer leads on adoption by 2,323% (95,622 vs 3,946 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; bb is written in TypeScript under MIT. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, bb 14%. bb 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
| puppeteer | bb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-25 | 2026-09-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 553 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick puppeteer if
- You weight community size — 96K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick bb if
- You want the bb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and bb fits your workflow better
About puppeteer
Puppeteer is an Apache 2.0 JavaScript and TypeScript library that provides a high level API for driving Chrome and Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi, written for developers who automate browsers from Node.js.
read the full puppeteer overview →
About bb
bb is the agent IDE that builds itself: an MIT licensed TypeScript application that lets developers drive coding agents from a desktop app, a web app, a CLI, or an HTTP API, and extend the tool itself while it runs.
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or bb more popular?
puppeteer has 95,622 GitHub stars and bb has 3,946. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and bb free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bb under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and bb?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and bb 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, puppeteer or bb?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,622 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose bb if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.