head to head · open source
parcel vs please
parcel has 44,008 GitHub stars, 2,425 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped yesterday. please has 2,627 stars, 223 forks, 120 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parcel leads on adoption by 1,575% (44,008 vs 2,627 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; please is written in Go under Apache-2.0. parcel has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, please 8%. please 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| parcel | please | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 2.6K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.4K | ⑂ 223 |
| 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 please if
- You want the please feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and please 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 please
Please Please is a cross language build system with an emphasis on high performance, extensibility and reproducibility. It supports a number of popular languages and can automate nearly any aspect of your build process. See please.build for more information. Currently Linux (tested on Ubuntu), macOS and FreeBSD are actively supported. If you're a fan of Please, don't forget to add yourself to the adopters file. Getting Started =============== The easiest way to install it on your own machine is to run: Or, if you prefer, grab one of the tarballs off our releases page and extract it yourself; it typically lives…
read the full please overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Build & Deployment projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Build & Deployment field.
Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or please more popular?
parcel has 44,008 GitHub stars and please has 2,627. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and please free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT and please under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parcel and please?
parcel is written in JavaScript and please 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 please?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,008 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose please if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.