head to head · open source
parcel vs middy
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars, 2,284 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. middy has 3,904 stars, 399 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. parcel leads on adoption by 1,028% (44,025 vs 3,904 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; middy is written in JavaScript under MIT. parcel has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, middy 10%. middy was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (javascript), 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 | middy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-12 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 399 |
| 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 middy if
- You want the middy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and middy 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 middy
Middy middleware engine AWS Lambda Node.js. Handler focus business logic. Attach reusable steps parsing, validation, auth, observability, error handling, AWS service integration. Ecosystem JavaScript TypeScript serverless. Official packages cover Lambda event sources and HTTP services. Project MIT licensed. Homepage middy.js.org. Docs cover getting started, official middlewares, event types, routers, custom middlewares, recipes, FAQ. GitHub metadata lists 3904 stars, 399 forks, 9 open issues, 9 year repo age, and last push 2026 09 12T15:33:46Z.
read the full middy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or middy more popular?
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars and middy has 3,904. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and middy free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT and middy under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parcel and middy?
parcel is written in JavaScript and middy 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 middy?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,025 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose middy if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.