head to head · open source
esbuild vs retire.js
esbuild has 40,120 GitHub stars, 1,368 forks, 622 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. retire.js has 4,200 stars, 442 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped yesterday. esbuild leads on adoption by 855% (40,120 vs 4,200 stars). esbuild is written in Go under MIT; retire.js is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. esbuild has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, retire.js 11%. retire.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (javascript), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | retire.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-09 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.4K | ⑂ 442 |
| 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 retire.js if
- You want the retire.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and retire.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 retire.js
Retire.js What you require you must also retire There is a vast ecosystem of JavaScript libraries available for both web and Node.js applications. While these libraries significantly accelerate development, they also require ongoing maintenance to ensure security vulnerabilities are addressed promptly. In 2013, “Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities” was added to the OWASP Top 10 list of critical security risks, highlighting the serious threat that outdated or insecure dependencies can pose to web applications. Retire.js was created to help developers identify JavaScript library versions with known…
read the full retire.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is esbuild or retire.js more popular?
esbuild has 40,120 GitHub stars and retire.js has 4,200. esbuild has the larger community by that measure.
Are esbuild and retire.js free?
Both are open source. esbuild is licensed under MIT and retire.js under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between esbuild and retire.js?
esbuild is written in Go and retire.js in JavaScript. 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 retire.js?
Choose esbuild if you want the larger community (40,120 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose retire.js if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.