head to head · open source
react vs mailcatcher
react has 250,617 GitHub stars, 51,386 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. mailcatcher has 6,779 stars, 605 forks, 43 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. react leads on adoption by 3,597% (250,617 vs 6,779 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; mailcatcher is written in Ruby under MIT. react has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, mailcatcher 9%. 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 | mailcatcher | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 251K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Ruby |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 51K | ⑂ 605 |
| 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 mailcatcher if
- You want the mailcatcher feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Ruby
- You evaluated both and mailcatcher 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 mailcatcher
MailCatcher is a Ruby SMTP server that catches every message sent to it and serves those messages through a local web interface, and it is made for developers who need to inspect the email their application sends without delivering it to real recipients.
read the full mailcatcher overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or mailcatcher more popular?
react has 250,617 GitHub stars and mailcatcher has 6,779. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and mailcatcher free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT and mailcatcher under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between react and mailcatcher?
react is written in JavaScript and mailcatcher in Ruby. 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 mailcatcher?
Choose react if you want the larger community (250,617 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mailcatcher if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.