head to head · open source
puppeteer vs msw
puppeteer has 95,590 GitHub stars, 9,576 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped yesterday. msw has 18,210 stars, 626 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped yesterday. puppeteer leads on adoption by 425% (95,590 vs 18,210 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; msw is written in TypeScript under MIT. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, msw 3%. 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 | msw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 18K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 626 |
| 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 msw if
- You want the msw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and msw 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 msw
Mock Service Worker (MSW) is an MIT licensed TypeScript library that intercepts network requests at the Service Worker level so JavaScript applications and tests can run against mocked APIs without any change to application code, and it is built for front end and full stack JavaScript developers who need consistent API mocking in the browser, in tests, and during local development.
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or msw more popular?
puppeteer has 95,590 GitHub stars and msw has 18,210. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and msw free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and msw under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and msw?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and msw 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 msw?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,590 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose msw if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.