head to head · open source
Onlook vs CrossUI
Onlook has 26,847 GitHub stars, 2,115 forks, 380 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. CrossUI has 2,030 stars, 36 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Onlook leads on adoption by 1,223% (26,847 vs 2,030 stars). Onlook is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; CrossUI is written in JavaScript under MIT. Onlook has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, CrossUI 2%. Onlook was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (frontend, ide), 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
| Onlook | CrossUI | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 27K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-25 | 2026-06-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 36 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Onlook if
- You weight community size — 27K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick CrossUI if
- You want the CrossUI feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and CrossUI fits your workflow better
About Onlook
Onlook is an open source, Apache 2.0 visual editor for Next.js and TailwindCSS projects that lets designers and developers edit a running React app in the browser while the underlying code changes in real time.
read the full Onlook overview →
About CrossUI
CrossUI is a free, cross browser JavaScript framework for building rich single page web applications, paired with a visual editor that writes edits directly into your real React source code.
read the full CrossUI overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Onlook or CrossUI more popular?
Onlook has 26,847 GitHub stars and CrossUI has 2,030. Onlook has the larger community by that measure.
Are Onlook and CrossUI free?
Both are open source. Onlook is licensed under Apache-2.0 and CrossUI under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Onlook and CrossUI?
Onlook is written in TypeScript and CrossUI 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, Onlook or CrossUI?
Choose Onlook if you want the larger community (26,847 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose CrossUI if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.