head to head · open source
hyperframes vs watching-you
hyperframes has 74,073 GitHub stars, 6,727 forks, 200 open issues and last shipped yesterday. watching-you has 1,706 stars, 54 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. hyperframes leads on adoption by 4,242% (74,073 vs 1,706 stars). hyperframes is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; watching-you is written in TypeScript under ISC. hyperframes has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, watching-you 3%. hyperframes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (animation), 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
| hyperframes | watching-you | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 74K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | ISC |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-01-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 54 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick hyperframes if
- You weight community size — 74K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick watching-you if
- You want the watching-you feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the ISC license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and watching-you fits your workflow better
About hyperframes
Write HTML. Render video. Built for agents. Quickstart Showcase Playground Catalog Docs Discord HyperFrames is an open source framework for turning HTML, CSS, media, and seekable animations into deterministic MP4 videos. Use it locally with the CLI, from AI coding agents with skills, or as the rendering core behind hosted authoring workflows. Quick Start With an AI coding agent Install the HyperFrames skills, then describe the video you want: The picker opens with nothing pre selected — the Core Skills group is all you need: the /hyperframes router installs each creation workflow on demand. Agents and non…
read the full hyperframes overview →
About watching-you
Features Be able to watch the mouse or another DOM, or even input values, watch anything you want! Because it is DOM based, it is easy to support RWD Supports multiple frameworks Zero dependency (every framework is!) Written in typescript The size of the core code is only 3kb after gzip compression If the element is not on the screen, it will automatically stop watching Example Login Form Iron Chain Cena is watching you Svg Path Watcher The source code can be found here Storybook watching you's storybook using react, but every framework can do the same thing! Documents ⚠️ The API is still subject to change until…
read the full watching-you overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is hyperframes or watching-you more popular?
hyperframes has 74,073 GitHub stars and watching-you has 1,706. hyperframes has the larger community by that measure.
Are hyperframes and watching-you free?
Both are open source. hyperframes is licensed under Apache-2.0 and watching-you under ISC. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between hyperframes and watching-you?
hyperframes is written in TypeScript and watching-you 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, hyperframes or watching-you?
Choose hyperframes if you want the larger community (74,073 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose watching-you if its feature set, stack or ISC licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.