head to head · open source
Mermaid vs troika
Mermaid has 90,299 GitHub stars, 9,266 forks, 1,781 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. troika has 1,971 stars, 158 forks, 92 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Mermaid leads on adoption by 4,481% (90,299 vs 1,971 stars). Mermaid is written in TypeScript under MIT; troika is written in JavaScript under MIT. Mermaid has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, troika 8%. Mermaid was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (javascript), 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
| Mermaid | troika | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-07-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.3K | ⑂ 158 |
| 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 troika if
- You want the troika feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and troika 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 troika
Troika is a collection of JavaScript tools for building interactive 2D and 3D graphics in the browser, aimed at developers who need WebGL powered data visualization and are working with, or willing to adopt, Three.js.
read the full troika overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mermaid or troika more popular?
Mermaid has 90,299 GitHub stars and troika has 1,971. Mermaid has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mermaid and troika free?
Both are open source. Mermaid is licensed under MIT and troika under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Mermaid and troika?
Mermaid is written in TypeScript and troika in JavaScript. 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 troika?
Choose Mermaid if you want the larger community (90,299 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose troika if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.