head to head · open source
react vs react-cosmos
react has 251,904 GitHub stars, 51,628 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. react-cosmos has 8,694 stars, 383 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. react leads on adoption by 2,797% (251,904 vs 8,694 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; react-cosmos is written in TypeScript under MIT. react has attracted 20% as many forks as stars, react-cosmos 4%. react was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (react, ui), 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 | react-cosmos | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 252K | ★ 8.7K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 52K | ⑂ 383 |
| 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 react-cosmos if
- You want the react-cosmos feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and react-cosmos 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 react-cosmos
React Cosmos Getting Started Choose one of the Getting Started guides to dive into React Cosmos. Check out the Next.js integration to get started with React Server Components. Visit reactcosmos.org/docs to view the full documentation. Community To chat with other community members you can join the React Cosmos Discord. You can also ask questions, voice ideas, and share your projects on GitHub Discussions. Our Code of Conduct applies to all React Cosmos community channels. Contributing Please see our CONTRIBUTING.md. Become a Sponsor to support the ongoing development of React Cosmos. Live Demo Visit…
read the full react-cosmos overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or react-cosmos more popular?
react has 251,904 GitHub stars and react-cosmos has 8,694. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and react-cosmos free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT and react-cosmos under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between react and react-cosmos?
react is written in JavaScript and react-cosmos 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 react-cosmos?
Choose react if you want the larger community (251,904 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose react-cosmos if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.