head to head · open source
puppeteer vs Rowy
puppeteer has 95,792 GitHub stars, 9,590 forks, 259 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Rowy has 6,846 stars, 559 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped 2.0 years ago. puppeteer leads on adoption by 1,299% (95,792 vs 6,846 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 | 2026-11-03 | 2024-11-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 559 |
| 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 Puppeteer is a JavaScript library which provides a high level API to control Chrome or Firefox over the DevTools Protocol or WebDriver BiDi. Puppeteer runs in the headless (no visible UI) by default Get started API FAQ Contributing Troubleshooting Installation :::note Modern package managers (including npm (see the RFC), pnpm, Yarn, Bun, and Deno) block dependency install scripts by default. If the install script is blocked, Puppeteer will not download the browser during installation, leading to runtime errors. You can manually download the required browsers after installation by running…
read the full puppeteer overview →
About Rowy
✨ Airtable like UI for managing database ✨ Build any automation, with or without code ✨ Connect to your database and create Cloud Functions in low code without leaving your browser. Focus on building your apps. Low code for Firebase and Google Cloud. Website • Documentation • Chat with us • Twitter Live Demo 🛝 💥 Explore Rowy on live demo playground 💥 Features ✨ Powerful spreadsheet interface for Firestore CMS for Firestore CRUD operations Bulk import or export data csv, json, tsv Sort and filter by row values Lock, Freeze, Resize, Hide and Rename columns Multiple views for the same collection Automate with…
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Frequently asked questions
Is puppeteer or Rowy more popular?
puppeteer has 95,792 GitHub stars and Rowy has 6,846. 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 (95,792 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.