head to head · open source
react vs cocoa-way
react has 251,904 GitHub stars, 51,628 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. cocoa-way has 1,072 stars, 27 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. react leads on adoption by 23,399% (251,904 vs 1,072 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; cocoa-way is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. react has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, cocoa-way 3%. 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 | ★ 252K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-21 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 27 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick react if
- You weight community size — 252K 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 · React is a JavaScript library for building user interfaces. Declarative: React makes it painless to create interactive UIs. Design simple views for each state in your application, and React will efficiently update and render just the right components when your data changes. Declarative views make your code more predictable, simpler to understand, and easier to debug. Component Based: Build encapsulated components that manage their own state, then compose them to make complex UIs. Since component logic is written in JavaScript instead of templates, you can easily pass rich data through your app and…
read the full react overview →
About cocoa-way
Cocoa Way A native macOS Wayland compositor and Linux application control plane. Demo Install Quick start Container mode Architecture What is Cocoa Way? Cocoa Way receives the Wayland protocol on macOS and presents Linux applications through a Metal renderer. It can connect to an existing Linux machine with Waypipe or manage local GUI applications through Apple Container, Docker, and OrbStack. Version 2.0 models the product around three explicit objects: Application profile : saved image, command, runtime, presentation, audio, mounts, and environment settings. Application instance : one running profile with its…
read the full cocoa-way overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or cocoa-way more popular?
react has 251,904 GitHub stars and cocoa-way has 1,072. 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 (251,904 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.