head to head · open source
parcel vs Semaphore
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars, 2,284 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. Semaphore has 1,601 stars, 88 forks, 178 open issues and last shipped yesterday. parcel leads on adoption by 2,650% (44,025 vs 1,601 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; Semaphore is written in Elixir under a custom or non-standard licence. parcel has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Semaphore 5%. Semaphore was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | Semaphore | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | Elixir |
| Last push | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 88 |
| 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 Semaphore if
- You want the Semaphore feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Elixir
- You evaluated both and Semaphore 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 Semaphore
Semaphore is an open source continuous integration and continuous delivery platform that product teams install on their own infrastructure, or use as a hosted service, to build, test, and deploy software from a YAML based configuration.
read the full Semaphore overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or Semaphore more popular?
parcel has 44,025 GitHub stars and Semaphore has 1,601. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and Semaphore free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT, and Semaphore has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between parcel and Semaphore?
parcel is written in JavaScript and Semaphore in Elixir. 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 Semaphore?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,025 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Semaphore if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.