head to head · open source
helix vs react-ace
helix has 46,270 GitHub stars, 3,758 forks, 1,671 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. react-ace has 4,206 stars, 598 forks, 217 open issues and last shipped yesterday. helix leads on adoption by 1,000% (46,270 vs 4,206 stars). helix is written in Rust under MPL-2.0; react-ace is written in TypeScript under MIT. helix has attracted 8% 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 | ★ 46K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Rust | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 598 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick helix if
- You weight community size — 46K 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
Helix is a post modern modal text editor written in Rust that brings the selection first Kakoune editing model to the terminal, aimed at developers who want Vim style modal editing with language tooling built into the editor rather than assembled from a plugin stack.
read the full helix overview →
About react-ace
React Ace is a set of React components that wrap the Ace code editor, published on npm under the MIT licence for developers who need an editable code surface inside a React application.
read the full react-ace overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is helix or react-ace more popular?
helix has 46,270 GitHub stars and react-ace has 4,206. 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 (46,270 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.