head to head · open source
lighthouse vs flashlight
lighthouse has 31,005 GitHub stars, 9,785 forks, 470 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. flashlight has 1,611 stars, 51 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lighthouse leads on adoption by 1,825% (31,005 vs 1,611 stars). lighthouse is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0; flashlight is written in TypeScript under MIT. lighthouse has attracted 32% as many forks as stars, flashlight 3%. flashlight was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (audit), 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
| lighthouse | flashlight | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.8K | ⑂ 51 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick lighthouse if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick flashlight if
- You want the flashlight feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and flashlight fits your workflow better
About lighthouse
Lighthouse Lighthouse analyzes web apps and web pages, collecting modern performance metrics and insights on developer best practices. Using Lighthouse Using Lighthouse in Chrome DevTools Using the Chrome extension Using the Node CLI CLI options Using the Node module Viewing a report Online Viewer Docs & Recipes Developing Lighthouse Setup Run Tests Docs Associated Products and Projects Lighthouse Integrations in Web Perf services Lighthouse Integrations in non Web Perf services Plugins Related projects FAQ How does Lighthouse work? Can I configure the lighthouse run? How does Lighthouse use network throttling…
read the full lighthouse overview →
About flashlight
Get a performance score for your app 🔦 Flashlight generates a performance score for your Android app, aggregating different metrics. (📱 iOS support is also in the works) 🙅 No setup required in your app 🚀 Measure performance even on production apps ✨ Generates beautiful reports (like this Flatlist/Flashlist comparison) With Flashlight 🔦, you can either: Upload an app and get your performance score on app.flashlight.dev Or use the CLI: flashlight measure : quickly audit your perf with real time measures flashlight test : automate your measures with e2e performance testing over several iterations flashlight…
read the full flashlight overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is lighthouse or flashlight more popular?
lighthouse has 31,005 GitHub stars and flashlight has 1,611. lighthouse has the larger community by that measure.
Are lighthouse and flashlight free?
Both are open source. lighthouse is licensed under Apache-2.0 and flashlight under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between lighthouse and flashlight?
lighthouse is written in JavaScript and flashlight 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, lighthouse or flashlight?
Choose lighthouse if you want the larger community (31,005 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose flashlight if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.