head to head · open source
puppeteer vs rnx-kit
puppeteer has 95,657 GitHub stars, 9,587 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped yesterday. rnx-kit has 1,737 stars, 119 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped today. puppeteer leads on adoption by 5,407% (95,657 vs 1,737 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; rnx-kit is written in TypeScript under MIT. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, rnx-kit 7%. rnx-kit was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (developer-tools), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | rnx-kit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-04 | 2026-10-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 119 |
| 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 rnx-kit if
- You want the rnx-kit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and rnx-kit 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 rnx-kit
rnx kit is a collection of MIT licensed TypeScript tools built by Microsoft engineers for React Native developers who need to manage dependencies, bundle code, and build mobile apps consistently across large projects.
read the full rnx-kit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or rnx-kit more popular?
puppeteer has 95,657 GitHub stars and rnx-kit has 1,737. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and rnx-kit free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and rnx-kit under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between puppeteer and rnx-kit?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and rnx-kit 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 rnx-kit?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,657 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose rnx-kit if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.