head to head · open source
puppeteer vs ProcessWire
puppeteer has 95,792 GitHub stars, 9,590 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ProcessWire has 1,159 stars, 210 forks, 93 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. puppeteer leads on adoption by 8,165% (95,792 vs 1,159 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; ProcessWire is written in PHP under a custom or non-standard licence. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, ProcessWire 18%. 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 | ProcessWire | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 210 |
| 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 ProcessWire if
- You want the ProcessWire feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and ProcessWire 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 ProcessWire
Welcome to ProcessWire 3.x This document is in Markdown. An HTML formatted version of this document can be read at: Table of Contents 1. About 2. Installation 3. Upgrading 4. Troubleshooting 5. Support About ProcessWire ProcessWire is a friendly and powerful open source CMS with an API that is a joy to use at any scale. It is both a content management system (CMS) and framework (CMF) built to save you time and work the way you do. With all custom fields, a secure foundation, proven scalability and performance, ProcessWire connects all of your content seamlessly, making your job fast, easy and fun. ProcessWire…
read the full ProcessWire overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or ProcessWire more popular?
puppeteer has 95,792 GitHub stars and ProcessWire has 1,159. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and ProcessWire free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0, and ProcessWire has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between puppeteer and ProcessWire?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and ProcessWire in PHP. 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 ProcessWire?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,792 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ProcessWire if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.