head to head · open source
parcel vs extension.js
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars, 2,284 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. extension.js has 5,159 stars, 139 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parcel leads on adoption by 753% (44,025 vs 5,159 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; extension.js is written in TypeScript under MIT. parcel has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, extension.js 3%. extension.js 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 | extension.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 5.2K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 139 |
| 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 extension.js if
- You want the extension.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and extension.js 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 extension.js
extension.js is an open source cross browser extension framework written in TypeScript under the MIT license. It targets Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari, and it lets developers build extensions without a separate build configuration for each browser.
read the full extension.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or extension.js more popular?
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars and extension.js has 5,159. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and extension.js free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT and extension.js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parcel and extension.js?
parcel is written in JavaScript and extension.js 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, parcel or extension.js?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,025 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose extension.js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.