head to head · open source
react vs Orbital
react has 250,566 GitHub stars, 51,372 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Orbital has 360 stars, 14 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. react leads on adoption by 69,502% (250,566 vs 360 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; Orbital is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. react has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Orbital 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.
← all 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| react | Orbital | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 251K | ★ 360 |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-06-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 51K | ⑂ 14 |
| 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 Orbital if
- You want the Orbital feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Orbital 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 Orbital
Orbital is an open source data gateway that connects APIs, databases, queues and functions without hand written glue code, aimed at platform, integration and data engineers building BFFs, API composition layers and ETL pipelines.
read the full Orbital overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Frameworks & Platforms projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Frameworks & Platforms field.
Frequently asked questions
Is react or Orbital more popular?
react has 250,566 GitHub stars and Orbital has 360. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and Orbital free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT, and Orbital has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between react and Orbital?
react is written in JavaScript and Orbital 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 Orbital?
Choose react if you want the larger community (250,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Orbital if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.