head to head · open source
puppeteer vs Lightpanda
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars, 9,579 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped today. Lightpanda has 35,452 stars, 1,684 forks, 98 open issues and last shipped today. puppeteer leads on adoption by 170% (95,591 vs 35,452 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Lightpanda is written in Zig under AGPL-3.0. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Lightpanda 5%. puppeteer 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
| puppeteer | Lightpanda | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 35K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Zig |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| 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 Lightpanda if
- You want the Lightpanda feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Zig
- You evaluated both and Lightpanda 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 Lightpanda
Lightpanda is a headless browser built from scratch in Zig, designed specifically for AI agents and automation tasks. It is not a fork of Chromium or WebKit but a new implementation targeting performance and efficiency in automated web interactions. It lives in the browser automation ecosystem, competing with tools like Puppeteer and Playwright that typically rely on Chromium based headless modes.
read the full Lightpanda overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or Lightpanda more popular?
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars and Lightpanda has 35,452. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and Lightpanda free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Lightpanda under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and Lightpanda?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and Lightpanda in Zig. 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 Lightpanda?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,591 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Lightpanda if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.