head to head · open source
parcel vs retire.js
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars, 2,284 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. retire.js has 4,173 stars, 440 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. parcel leads on adoption by 955% (44,025 vs 4,173 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; retire.js is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. parcel has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, retire.js 11%. retire.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, 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 | retire.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 440 |
| 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 retire.js if
- You want the retire.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and retire.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 retire.js
Retire.js is an open source JavaScript security scanner for web and Node.js projects. It lives in the JavaScript software composition analysis ecosystem and is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. The project detects JavaScript libraries and Node.js modules with known vulnerabilities, including libraries downloaded into source control rather than listed in a package manifest.
read the full retire.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or retire.js more popular?
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars and retire.js has 4,173. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and retire.js free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT and retire.js under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parcel and retire.js?
parcel is written in JavaScript and retire.js 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 retire.js?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,025 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose retire.js if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.