head to head · open source
puppeteer vs Onlook
puppeteer has 95,792 GitHub stars, 9,590 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Onlook has 27,108 stars, 2,139 forks, 380 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. puppeteer leads on adoption by 253% (95,792 vs 27,108 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Onlook is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Onlook 8%. 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 | Onlook | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 27K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| 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 Onlook if
- You want the Onlook 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 Onlook fits your workflow better
About puppeteer
Puppeteer Puppeteer is a JavaScript library which provides a high level API to control Chrome or Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi. Puppeteer runs in the headless (no visible UI) by default Get started API FAQ Contributing Troubleshooting Installation :::note Modern package managers (including npm (see the RFC), pnpm, Yarn, Bun, and Deno) block dependency install scripts by default. If the install script is blocked, Puppeteer will not download the browser during installation, leading to runtime errors. You can manually download the required browsers after installation by running…
read the full puppeteer overview →
About Onlook
Onlook The design tool for AI native designers — now in early access. Onlook makes designing on top of your codebase effortless. Craft exceptional experiences with AI in code. → Join the waitlist 👨💻👩💻👨💻 We're hiring engineers in SF! 👩💻👨💻👩💻 View Demo · Report Bug · Request Feature [![Discord][discord shield]][discord url] [![LinkedIn][linkedin shield]][linkedin url] [![Twitter][twitter shield]][twitter url] 中文 Español Deutsch français Português Русский 日本語 한국어 This is the open source visual editor that started Onlook (Next.js + Tailwind). The hosted product we're building next, for AI native…
read the full Onlook overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or Onlook more popular?
puppeteer has 95,792 GitHub stars and Onlook has 27,108. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and Onlook free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Onlook under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and Onlook?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and Onlook 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 Onlook?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,792 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Onlook if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.