head to head · open source
EasySpider vs Steel
EasySpider has 44,571 GitHub stars, 5,385 forks, 271 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Steel has 7,668 stars, 982 forks, 68 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. EasySpider leads on adoption by 481% (44,571 vs 7,668 stars). EasySpider is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0; Steel is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. EasySpider has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Steel 13%. EasySpider 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
| EasySpider | Steel | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 7.7K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.4K | ⑂ 982 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick EasySpider if
- You weight community size — 45K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Steel if
- You want the Steel feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Steel fits your workflow better
About EasySpider
EasySpider is a visual, code free web crawler and browser automation tool distributed on GitHub under the AGPL 3.0 license. It is written in JavaScript as a graphical application and lives in the web scraping and data extraction ecosystem, sitting alongside browser automation testing tools. It also carries the alias ServiceWrapper, described as an intelligent service encapsulation system for web applications. Development spans roughly six years, with the latest push recorded in September 2026.
read the full EasySpider overview →
About Steel
Steel is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed browser API written in TypeScript that gives AI agents and applications cloud browser sessions, so teams can automate the web without building browser infrastructure from scratch.
read the full Steel overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is EasySpider or Steel more popular?
EasySpider has 44,571 GitHub stars and Steel has 7,668. EasySpider has the larger community by that measure.
Are EasySpider and Steel free?
Both are open source. EasySpider is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Steel under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between EasySpider and Steel?
EasySpider is written in JavaScript and Steel 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, EasySpider or Steel?
Choose EasySpider if you want the larger community (44,571 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Steel if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.