head to head · open source
react vs cocoa-way
react has 250,602 GitHub stars, 51,379 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. cocoa-way has 1,032 stars, 23 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. react leads on adoption by 24,183% (250,602 vs 1,032 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; cocoa-way is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. react has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, cocoa-way 2%. react 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 | cocoa-way | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 251K | ★ 1.0K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 51K | ⑂ 23 |
| 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 cocoa-way if
- You want the cocoa-way feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and cocoa-way 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 cocoa-way
Cocoa Way is a native macOS Wayland compositor and Linux application control plane, written in Rust and licensed under GPL 3.0, that presents Linux applications through a Metal renderer for macOS users who want Linux desktops and individual Linux GUI applications running alongside their Mac environment rather than inside a remote desktop viewer.
read the full cocoa-way overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or cocoa-way more popular?
react has 250,602 GitHub stars and cocoa-way has 1,032. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and cocoa-way free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT and cocoa-way under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between react and cocoa-way?
react is written in JavaScript and cocoa-way in Rust. 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 cocoa-way?
Choose react if you want the larger community (250,602 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose cocoa-way if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.