head to head · open source
puppeteer vs AppSmith
puppeteer has 95,590 GitHub stars, 9,576 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppSmith has 40,898 stars, 4,761 forks, 4,467 open issues and last shipped yesterday. puppeteer leads on adoption by 134% (95,590 vs 40,898 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; AppSmith is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, AppSmith 12%. AppSmith was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (automation, developer-tools), 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
| puppeteer | AppSmith | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 41K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 4.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick puppeteer if
- You weight community size — 96K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick AppSmith if
- You want the AppSmith feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and AppSmith fits your workflow better
About puppeteer
Puppeteer is an Apache 2.0 JavaScript and TypeScript library that provides a high level API for driving Chrome and Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi, written for developers who automate browsers from Node.js.
read the full puppeteer overview →
About AppSmith
Appsmith is an open source, Apache 2.0 low code platform written primarily in TypeScript that lets teams build custom internal tools such as admin panels, dashboards, and CRUD applications on top of their own databases and APIs.
read the full AppSmith overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or AppSmith more popular?
puppeteer has 95,590 GitHub stars and AppSmith has 40,898. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and AppSmith free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and AppSmith under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and AppSmith?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and AppSmith 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, puppeteer or AppSmith?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,590 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose AppSmith if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.