head to head · open source
Mermaid vs dash
Mermaid has 90,293 GitHub stars, 9,266 forks, 1,781 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. dash has 24,411 stars, 2,314 forks, 480 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mermaid leads on adoption by 270% (90,293 vs 24,411 stars). Mermaid is written in TypeScript under MIT; dash is written in Python under MIT. Mermaid has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, dash 9%. dash 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
| Mermaid | dash | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 24K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.3K | ⑂ 2.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Mermaid if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dash if
- You want the dash feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and dash fits your workflow better
About Mermaid
Mermaid is a JavaScript based diagramming tool that renders diagrams from Markdown like text definitions. It lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem and operates both in the browser and in Node.js environments. The project’s core purpose is to eliminate the gap between software development and documentation by letting developers write diagrams alongside code, avoiding the rot and overhead of manual diagram maintenance.
read the full Mermaid overview →
About dash
Dash is an open source Python framework for building analytical web applications, data apps, and dashboards without writing JavaScript, aimed at data scientists, analysts, and machine learning engineers who want to turn Python code into interactive browser interfaces.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mermaid or dash more popular?
Mermaid has 90,293 GitHub stars and dash has 24,411. Mermaid has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mermaid and dash free?
Both are open source. Mermaid is licensed under MIT and dash under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Mermaid and dash?
Mermaid is written in TypeScript and dash in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Mermaid or dash?
Choose Mermaid if you want the larger community (90,293 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose dash if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.