head to head · open source
react vs puppeteer
react has 250,566 GitHub stars, 51,372 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped yesterday. puppeteer has 95,590 stars, 9,576 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped yesterday. react leads on adoption by 162% (250,566 vs 95,590 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. react has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, puppeteer 10%. puppeteer 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 | puppeteer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 251K | ★ 96K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 51K | ⑂ 9.6K |
| 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 puppeteer if
- You want the puppeteer 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 puppeteer 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 puppeteer
Puppeteer is an Apache 2.0 JavaScript and TypeScript library that provides a high level API for driving Chrome and Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi, written for developers who automate browsers from Node.js.
read the full puppeteer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or puppeteer more popular?
react has 250,566 GitHub stars and puppeteer has 95,590. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and puppeteer free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT and puppeteer under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between react and puppeteer?
react is written in JavaScript and puppeteer 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 puppeteer?
Choose react if you want the larger community (250,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose puppeteer if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.