head to head · open source
puppeteer vs mailcatcher
puppeteer has 95,601 GitHub stars, 9,580 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. mailcatcher has 6,779 stars, 605 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. puppeteer leads on adoption by 1,310% (95,601 vs 6,779 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; mailcatcher is written in Ruby under MIT. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, mailcatcher 9%. 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 | mailcatcher | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 605 |
| 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 mailcatcher if
- You want the mailcatcher feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and mailcatcher 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 mailcatcher
MailCatcher is a Ruby SMTP server that catches every message sent to it and serves those messages through a local web interface, and it is made for developers who need to inspect the email their application sends without delivering it to real recipients.
read the full mailcatcher overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or mailcatcher more popular?
puppeteer has 95,601 GitHub stars and mailcatcher has 6,779. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and mailcatcher free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mailcatcher under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and mailcatcher?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and mailcatcher in Ruby. 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 mailcatcher?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,601 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose mailcatcher if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.