head to head · open source
Plasmic vs zag
Plasmic has 7,168 GitHub stars, 743 forks, 44 open issues and last shipped yesterday. zag has 5,278 stars, 312 forks, 26 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Plasmic leads on adoption by 36% (7,168 vs 5,278 stars). Plasmic is written in TypeScript under MIT; zag is written in TypeScript under MIT. Plasmic has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, zag 6%. zag was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (design-systems, headless), 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
| Plasmic | zag | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.2K | ★ 5.3K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-14 | 2026-11-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 743 | ⑂ 312 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Plasmic if
- You weight community size — 7.2K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick zag if
- You want the zag feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and zag fits your workflow better
About Plasmic
Plasmic The open source visual builder for your codebase. Build beautiful apps and websites incredibly fast. Drag and drop your own components, integrate with your codebase. Break through the low code ceiling. Quick links Website [Documentation][docs] [Quickstart][quickstart] [Plasmic Forum][forum] [Slack Community][slack] [docs]: [quickstart]: [forum]: [slack]: See Plasmic in action Vercel marketing page: (live app: Apple.com: Shopify headless storefront: Twitter clone: (live app: Service desk app: (live app: Interview with Lee Robinson, Plasmic as a visual CMS: What is Plasmic? Plasmic is a visual builder for…
read the full Plasmic overview →
About zag
Zag Finite state machines for accessible JavaScript components Write once, use everywhere 🦄 : The component interactions are modelled in a framework agnostic way. We provide adapters for JS frameworks like React, Solid, Svelte, or Vue. Focus on accessibility ♿️ : Zag is built with accessibility in mind. We handle many details related to keyboard interactions, focus management, aria roles and attributes. Headless ✨ : The machine APIs are completely unstyled and gives you the control to use any styling solution you prefer. Powered by state machines 🌳 : Zag is built on top of the latest ideas in Statecharts. We…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Plasmic or zag more popular?
Plasmic has 7,168 GitHub stars and zag has 5,278. Plasmic has the larger community by that measure.
Are Plasmic and zag free?
Both are open source. Plasmic is licensed under MIT and zag under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Plasmic and zag?
Plasmic is written in TypeScript and zag 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, Plasmic or zag?
Choose Plasmic if you want the larger community (7,168 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose zag if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.