head to head · open source
parcel vs NHost
parcel has 44,008 GitHub stars, 2,425 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NHost has 9,382 stars, 640 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parcel leads on adoption by 369% (44,008 vs 9,382 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; NHost is written in Go under MIT. parcel has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, NHost 7%. NHost 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 | NHost | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 9.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 640 |
| 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 NHost if
- You want the NHost feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and NHost 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 NHost
Nhost Quickstart • Website • Docs • Blog • X • Discord • Ask Nhost Guru (third party, unofficial) Nhost is an open source Firebase alternative with GraphQL, built with the following things in mind: Open Source GraphQL SQL Great Developer Experience Nhost consists of open source software: Database: PostgreSQL Instant GraphQL API: Hasura Authentication: Auth Storage: Storage Serverless Functions: Node.js (JavaScript and TypeScript) Nhost CLI for local development Architecture of Nhost Visit for the complete documentation. Get Started Option 1: Nhost Hosted Platform 1. Sign in to Nhost. 2. Create Nhost app. 3…
read the full NHost overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or NHost more popular?
parcel has 44,008 GitHub stars and NHost has 9,382. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and NHost free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT and NHost under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parcel and NHost?
parcel is written in JavaScript and NHost in Go. 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 NHost?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,008 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose NHost if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.