head to head · open source
monaco-editor vs Flow
monaco-editor has 46,944 GitHub stars, 4,167 forks, 859 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Flow has 1,092 stars, 61 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. monaco-editor leads on adoption by 4,199% (46,944 vs 1,092 stars). monaco-editor is written in JavaScript under MIT; Flow is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. monaco-editor has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Flow 6%. monaco-editor was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser), 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
| monaco-editor | Flow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-05-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 61 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick monaco-editor if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Flow if
- You want the Flow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Flow fits your workflow better
About monaco-editor
Monaco Editor The Monaco Editor is the fully featured code editor from VS Code. Check out the VS Code docs to see some of the supported features. Try it out Try out the editor and see various examples in our interactive playground. The playground is the best way to learn about how to use the editor, which features is supports, to try out different versions and to create minimal reproducible examples for bug reports. Installing You will get: inside /esm : ESM version of the editor (compatible with e.g. webpack) monaco.d.ts : this specifies the API of the editor (this is what is actually versioned, everything else…
read the full monaco-editor overview →
About Flow
Flow Browser A modern, tabbed web browser with Chrome extension support—built on Electron. Overview Flow Browser is a lightweight, feature rich web browser that combines the power of Chromium with a clean, modern interface. Built on Electron, it offers full support for Chrome extensions, making it a versatile alternative to mainstream browsers. Install Choose the file you need and download from GitHub Releases. Screenshots Features Profiles : Multiple profiles support, allowing you to use different settings and extensions for each profile. Spaces : Multiple spaces support, allowing you to organize your tabs into…
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Frequently asked questions
Is monaco-editor or Flow more popular?
monaco-editor has 46,944 GitHub stars and Flow has 1,092. monaco-editor has the larger community by that measure.
Are monaco-editor and Flow free?
Both are open source. monaco-editor is licensed under MIT and Flow under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between monaco-editor and Flow?
monaco-editor is written in JavaScript and Flow 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, monaco-editor or Flow?
Choose monaco-editor if you want the larger community (46,944 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Flow if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.