head to head · open source
puppeteer vs Rowy
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars, 9,579 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped today. Rowy has 6,841 stars, 557 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped 1.8 years ago. puppeteer leads on adoption by 1,297% (95,591 vs 6,841 stars). puppeteer is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; Rowy is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. puppeteer has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Rowy 8%. 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
| puppeteer | Rowy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 96K | ★ 6.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2024-11-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 557 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick puppeteer if
- You weight community size — 96K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Rowy if
- You want the Rowy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Rowy fits your workflow better
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 →
About Rowy
Rowy is an open source low code backend platform that runs in the browser. It provides a spreadsheet like interface for managing data stored in Firestore, and it embeds a code editor for writing cloud functions in JavaScript or TypeScript. The project lives in the Firebase and Google Cloud Platform ecosystem, and it is written in TypeScript. It is commonly described as an Airtable style front end for a Firestore database, with automation built in.
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or Rowy more popular?
puppeteer has 95,591 GitHub stars and Rowy has 6,841. puppeteer has the larger community by that measure.
Are puppeteer and Rowy free?
Both are open source. puppeteer is licensed under Apache-2.0, and Rowy has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between puppeteer and Rowy?
puppeteer is written in TypeScript and Rowy 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, puppeteer or Rowy?
Choose puppeteer if you want the larger community (95,591 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Rowy if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.