head to head · open source
parcel vs create-elm-app
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars, 2,284 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. create-elm-app has 1,676 stars, 147 forks, 54 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. parcel leads on adoption by 2,527% (44,025 vs 1,676 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; create-elm-app is written in JavaScript under MIT. parcel has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, create-elm-app 9%. create-elm-app was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (build-tool), 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
| parcel | create-elm-app | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 147 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick parcel if
- You weight community size — 44K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick create-elm-app if
- You want the create-elm-app feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and create-elm-app fits your workflow better
About parcel
Parcel is a zero configuration build tool for the web, distributed as the parcel package on npm and licensed under MIT. It lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and is written primarily in JavaScript, with its JavaScript compiler implemented in Rust for native performance. The project has been developed for roughly nine years, carries more than 44,000 stars and over 2,200 forks on GitHub, and its documentation is hosted at parceljs.org.
read the full parcel overview →
About create-elm-app
Create Elm App Create Elm apps with no build configuration. Getting Started – How to create a new app. User Guide – How to develop apps bootstrapped with Create Elm App. Elm SPA example Using Create Elm App Elm in SPA example by Richard Feldman. Quickstart Create a production build with elm app build Getting Started Installation Node =8 is required for installation. Yarn yarn global add create elm app NPM npm install create elm app g If you are running Linux OS, you should install it as the superuser: sudo npm install create elm app g Creating an App To create a new app, run: Create a new my app folder with files…
read the full create-elm-app overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or create-elm-app more popular?
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars and create-elm-app has 1,676. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and create-elm-app free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT and create-elm-app under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parcel and create-elm-app?
parcel is written in JavaScript and create-elm-app 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, parcel or create-elm-app?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,025 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose create-elm-app if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.