head to head · open source
react vs playwright
react has 250,552 GitHub stars, 51,372 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped yesterday. playwright has 96,307 stars, 6,460 forks, 185 open issues and last shipped yesterday. react leads on adoption by 160% (250,552 vs 96,307 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; playwright is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. react has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, playwright 7%. react was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (javascript), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 | playwright | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 251K | ★ 96K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 51K | ⑂ 6.5K |
| 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 playwright if
- You want the playwright feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and playwright 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 playwright
Playwright is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed TypeScript framework for web testing and browser automation that drives Chromium, Firefox, and WebKit through a single API, built for end to end testers, browser automation script writers, and AI coding agents.
read the full playwright overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or playwright more popular?
react has 250,552 GitHub stars and playwright has 96,307. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and playwright free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT and playwright under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between react and playwright?
react is written in JavaScript and playwright 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 playwright?
Choose react if you want the larger community (250,552 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose playwright if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.