head to head · open source
parcel vs modern.js
parcel has 44,008 GitHub stars, 2,425 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped yesterday. modern.js has 5,051 stars, 425 forks, 66 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parcel leads on adoption by 771% (44,008 vs 5,051 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; modern.js is written in TypeScript under MIT. parcel has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, modern.js 8%. modern.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (build-tool, web), 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 | modern.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 5.1K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 425 |
| 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 modern.js if
- You want the modern.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and modern.js fits your workflow better
About parcel
Parcel is a zero configuration build tool for the web. It combines a great out of the box development experience with a scalable architecture that can take your project from just getting started to massive production application. Features 😍 Zero config – Parcel supports many languages and file types out of the box, from web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, to assets like images, fonts, videos, and more. It has a built in dev server with hot reloading, beautiful error diagnostics, and much more. No configuration needed! ⚡️ Lightning fast – Parcel's JavaScript compiler is written in Rust for native…
read the full parcel overview →
About modern.js
Modern.js Inspire creativity in modern web development. English 简体中文 Introduction The Modern.js framework is a progressive web framework based on React. At ByteDance, we use Modern.js to build upper level frameworks that have supported the development of thousands of web applications. When developing React applications, developers usually need to design implementation plans for certain features or use other libraries and frameworks to solve these problems. Modern.js supports all configurations and tools needed by React applications, and has built in additional features and optimizations. Developers can use React…
read the full modern.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or modern.js more popular?
parcel has 44,008 GitHub stars and modern.js has 5,051. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and modern.js free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT and modern.js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parcel and modern.js?
parcel is written in JavaScript and modern.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 modern.js?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,008 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose modern.js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.