head to head · open source
esbuild vs extension.js
esbuild has 40,120 GitHub stars, 1,368 forks, 622 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. extension.js has 5,203 stars, 144 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. esbuild leads on adoption by 671% (40,120 vs 5,203 stars). esbuild is written in Go under MIT; extension.js is written in TypeScript under MIT. esbuild has attracted 3% 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
| esbuild | extension.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 5.2K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-09 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 144 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick esbuild if
- You weight community size — 40K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- 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 esbuild
Website Getting started Documentation Plugins FAQ Why? Our current build tools for the web are 10 100x slower than they could be: The main goal of the esbuild bundler project is to bring about a new era of build tool performance, and create an easy to use modern bundler along the way. Major features: Extreme speed without needing a cache JavaScript, CSS, TypeScript, and JSX built in A straightforward API for CLI, JS, and Go Bundles ESM and CommonJS modules Bundles CSS including CSS modules Tree shaking, minification, and source maps Local server, watch mode, and plugins Check out the getting started instructions…
read the full esbuild overview →
About extension.js
[npm version image]: [npm version url]: [npm downloads image]: [npm downloads url]: [action image]: [action url]: [discord image]: [discord url]: [snyk image]: [snyk url]: [scorecard image]: [scorecard url]: Extension.js [![Version][npm version image]][npm version url] [![Downloads][npm downloads image]][npm downloads url] [![CI][action image]][action url] [![Discord][discord image]][discord url] [![OpenSSF Scorecard][scorecard image]][scorecard url] The cross browser extension framework. Build for Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari with no build config required. Works with npm , pnpm , yarn , bun , and deno…
read the full extension.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is esbuild or extension.js more popular?
esbuild has 40,120 GitHub stars and extension.js has 5,203. esbuild has the larger community by that measure.
Are esbuild and extension.js free?
Both are open source. esbuild is licensed under MIT and extension.js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between esbuild and extension.js?
esbuild is written in Go 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, esbuild or extension.js?
Choose esbuild if you want the larger community (40,120 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose extension.js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.