head to head · open source
puppeteer vs Onlook
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars, 9,579 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped today. Onlook has 26,766 stars, 2,106 forks, 380 open issues and last shipped 26 days ago. puppeteer leads on adoption by 257% (95,591 vs 26,766 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Onlook is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Onlook 8%. puppeteer 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
| puppeteer | Onlook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 27K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-08-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick puppeteer if
- You weight community size — 96K 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 Onlook if
- You want the Onlook feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Onlook fits your workflow better
About puppeteer
Puppeteer is an Apache 2.0 JavaScript and TypeScript library that provides a high level API for driving Chrome and Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi, written for developers who automate browsers from Node.js.
read the full puppeteer overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or Onlook more popular?
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars and Onlook has 26,766. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and Onlook free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Onlook under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and Onlook?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and Onlook 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, puppeteer or Onlook?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,591 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Onlook if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.