head to head · open source
puppeteer vs netbeans
puppeteer has 95,593 GitHub stars, 9,578 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped yesterday. netbeans has 3,140 stars, 933 forks, 1,081 open issues and last shipped yesterday. puppeteer leads on adoption by 2,944% (95,593 vs 3,140 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; netbeans is written in Java under Apache-2.0. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, netbeans 30%. netbeans 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 | netbeans | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 933 |
| 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 netbeans if
- You want the netbeans feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and netbeans 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 netbeans
Apache NetBeans is an Apache 2.0 open source development environment, tooling platform and application framework written in Java, aimed at developers who write and run Java applications and at teams that build desktop software on top of the NetBeans Platform.
read the full netbeans overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or netbeans more popular?
puppeteer has 95,593 GitHub stars and netbeans has 3,140. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and netbeans free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and netbeans under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and netbeans?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and netbeans in Java. 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 netbeans?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,593 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose netbeans if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.