head to head · open source
react vs msw
react has 252,095 GitHub stars, 51,624 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. msw has 18,329 stars, 644 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. react leads on adoption by 1,275% (252,095 vs 18,329 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; msw is written in TypeScript under MIT. react has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, msw 4%. 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 | msw | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 252K | ★ 18K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 644 |
| 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 msw if
- You want the msw feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and msw 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 msw
Mock Service Worker Industry standard API mocking for JavaScript. Join our Discord server Features Seamless . A dedicated layer of requests interception at your disposal. Keep your application's code and tests unaware of whether something is mocked or not. Deviation free . Request the same production resources and test the actual behavior of your app. Augment an existing API, or design it as you go when there is none. Familiar & Powerful . Use Express like routing syntax to intercept requests. Use parameters, wildcards, and regular expressions to match requests, and respond with necessary status codes, headers…
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or msw more popular?
react has 252,095 GitHub stars and msw has 18,329. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and msw free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT and msw under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between react and msw?
react is written in JavaScript and msw 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 msw?
Choose react if you want the larger community (252,095 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose msw if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.