head to head · open source
react vs rea
react has 250,761 GitHub stars, 51,453 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. rea has 29,472 stars, 3,500 forks, 70 open issues and last shipped today. react leads on adoption by 751% (250,761 vs 29,472 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; rea is written in TypeScript under MIT. react has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, rea 12%. rea 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
| react | rea | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 251K | ★ 29K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-07 | 2026-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 51K | ⑂ 3.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick react if
- You weight community size — 251K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick rea if
- You want the rea feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and rea fits your workflow better
About react
React is a JavaScript library under the MIT licence for building user interfaces, using a declarative, component based model that renders both on the web and, through React Native, on mobile.
read the full react overview →
About rea
REA is an open source MCP server and CLI that lets AI coding agents — and your terminal — reverse engineer native binaries, JavaScript and Electron apps, .NET assemblies, and websites, with evidence attached to every conclusion.
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or rea more popular?
react has 250,761 GitHub stars and rea has 29,472. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and rea free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT and rea under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between react and rea?
react is written in JavaScript and rea 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, react or rea?
Choose react if you want the larger community (250,761 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose rea if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.