head to head · open source
puppeteer vs herdr
puppeteer has 95,791 GitHub stars, 9,600 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped yesterday. herdr has 47,557 stars, 3,813 forks, 337 open issues and last shipped yesterday. puppeteer leads on adoption by 101% (95,791 vs 47,557 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; herdr is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, herdr 8%. puppeteer was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | herdr | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 48K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 3.8K |
| 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 herdr if
- You want the herdr feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and herdr fits your workflow better
About puppeteer
Puppeteer Puppeteer is a JavaScript library which provides a high level API to control Chrome or Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi. Puppeteer runs in the headless (no visible UI) by default Get started API FAQ Contributing Troubleshooting Installation :::note Modern package managers (including npm (see the RFC), pnpm, Yarn, Bun, and Deno) block dependency install scripts by default. If the install script is blocked, Puppeteer will not download the browser during installation, leading to runtime errors. You can manually download the required browsers after installation by running…
read the full puppeteer overview →
About herdr
herdr herdr.dev · install · quick start · docs English · 简体中文 the runtime your coding agents live on. detach without stopping work — herdr keeps terminals running in a background server when you close the client or lose your SSH connection. after a server or machine restart, herdr restores the saved layout and can resume supported agent sessions; the original processes do not survive. session state → several machines, one window — keep local work and saved ssh machines together, with a combined agent list and independent reconnects. remote machines → never hunt for the stuck one — every pane is marked working…
read the full herdr overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or herdr more popular?
puppeteer has 95,791 GitHub stars and herdr has 47,557. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and herdr free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and herdr under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and herdr?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and herdr in Rust. 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 herdr?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,791 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose herdr if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.