head to head · open source
puppeteer vs illa-builder
puppeteer has 95,657 GitHub stars, 9,587 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped yesterday. illa-builder has 12,331 stars, 1,210 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. puppeteer leads on adoption by 676% (95,657 vs 12,331 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; illa-builder is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, illa-builder 10%. 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 | illa-builder | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 12K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-04 | 2026-05-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| 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 illa-builder if
- You want the illa-builder 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 illa-builder 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 illa-builder
ILLA Builder is an open source low code platform for developers and internal tool teams who want to build dashboards, CRUD apps, admin panels, CRMs and CMSs without hand coding the front end.
read the full illa-builder overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or illa-builder more popular?
puppeteer has 95,657 GitHub stars and illa-builder has 12,331. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and illa-builder free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and illa-builder under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and illa-builder?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and illa-builder 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 illa-builder?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,657 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose illa-builder if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.