head to head · open source
puppeteer vs KeystoneJS
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars, 9,579 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped today. KeystoneJS has 9,976 stars, 1,265 forks, 138 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. puppeteer leads on adoption by 858% (95,591 vs 9,976 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; KeystoneJS is written in TypeScript under MIT. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, KeystoneJS 13%. puppeteer 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
| puppeteer | KeystoneJS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 10.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick puppeteer if
- You weight community size — 96K 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 KeystoneJS if
- You want the KeystoneJS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and KeystoneJS fits your workflow better
About puppeteer
Puppeteer is an Apache 2.0 JavaScript and TypeScript library that provides a high level API for driving Chrome and Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi, written for developers who automate browsers from Node.js.
read the full puppeteer overview →
About KeystoneJS
KeystoneJS is an open source Node.js CMS and application framework written in TypeScript and licensed under the MIT License. It lives in the Node.js, GraphQL, and React ecosystem, and its GitHub description calls it a headless CMS for Node.js. The project addresses the need to build a custom back end without writing all of the common content management plumbing by hand.
read the full KeystoneJS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or KeystoneJS more popular?
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars and KeystoneJS has 9,976. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and KeystoneJS free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and KeystoneJS under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and KeystoneJS?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and KeystoneJS 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, puppeteer or KeystoneJS?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,591 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose KeystoneJS if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.