head to head · open source
helix vs react-ace
helix has 46,772 GitHub stars, 4,011 forks, 1,671 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. react-ace has 4,205 stars, 596 forks, 217 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. helix leads on adoption by 1,012% (46,772 vs 4,205 stars). helix is written in Rust under MPL-2.0; react-ace is written in TypeScript under MIT. helix has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, react-ace 14%. react-ace 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
| helix | react-ace | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-29 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.0K | ⑂ 596 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick helix if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick react-ace if
- You want the react-ace feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and react-ace fits your workflow better
About helix
A Kakoune / Neovim inspired editor, written in Rust. The editing model is very heavily based on Kakoune; during development I found myself agreeing with most of Kakoune's design decisions. For more information, see the website or documentation. All shortcuts/keymaps can be found in the documentation on the website. Troubleshooting Features Vim like modal editing Multiple selections Built in language server support Smart, incremental syntax highlighting and code editing via tree sitter Although it's primarily a terminal based editor, I am interested in exploring a custom renderer (similar to Emacs) using wgpu…
read the full helix overview →
About react-ace
React Ace A set of react components for Ace NOTE FOR VERSION 8! : We have stopped support for Brace and now use Ace builds. Please read the documentation on how to migrate. Examples are being updated. DEMO of React Ace DEMO of React Ace Split Editor DEMO of React Ace Diff Editor Install npm install react ace ace builds yarn add react ace ace builds Basic Usage Examples Checkout the example directory for a working example using webpack. Documentation Ace Editor Split View Editor Diff Editor How to add modes, themes and keyboard handlers Frequently Asked Questions Migrate to version 8 Backers Support us with a…
read the full react-ace overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is helix or react-ace more popular?
helix has 46,772 GitHub stars and react-ace has 4,205. helix has the larger community by that measure.
Are helix and react-ace free?
Both are open source. helix is licensed under MPL-2.0 and react-ace under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between helix and react-ace?
helix is written in Rust and react-ace 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, helix or react-ace?
Choose helix if you want the larger community (46,772 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose react-ace if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.