head to head · open source
next.js vs vite
next.js has 142,339 GitHub stars, 32,276 forks, 3,358 open issues and last shipped today. vite has 82,868 stars, 8,745 forks, 767 open issues and last shipped today. next.js leads on adoption by 72% (142,339 vs 82,868 stars). next.js is written in JavaScript under MIT; vite is written in TypeScript under MIT. next.js has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, vite 11%. vite 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
| next.js | vite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 142K | ★ 83K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 32K | ⑂ 8.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick next.js if
- You weight community size — 142K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick vite if
- You want the vite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and vite fits your workflow better
About next.js
Next.js is a JavaScript framework for building web applications, distributed under the MIT license and described by its maintainers as "The React Framework." It extends the latest React features so that developers can build full stack web applications, and it integrates Rust based JavaScript tooling to produce fast builds. The project lives in the React and Node ecosystem, and its topic list places it among static site generators, server rendering tools, hybrid and universal rendering approaches, and compiler oriented front end tooling. The repository is ten years old and has been pushed as recently as September …
read the full next.js overview →
About vite
Vite is a build tool for modern web projects, distributed as a set of npm packages and licensed under MIT. It is written in TypeScript and lives in the JavaScript and frontend tooling ecosystem, where it sits alongside the bundlers and dev servers that compile application source into browser ready assets. The project describes itself as next generation frontend tooling and has been maintained for roughly six years, with the most recent push recorded in September 2026.
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Frequently asked questions
Is next.js or vite more popular?
next.js has 142,339 GitHub stars and vite has 82,868. next.js has the larger community by that measure.
Are next.js and vite free?
Both are open source. next.js is licensed under MIT and vite under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between next.js and vite?
next.js is written in JavaScript and vite 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, next.js or vite?
Choose next.js if you want the larger community (142,339 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose vite if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.