head to head · open source
parcel vs sandboxd
parcel has 44,024 GitHub stars, 2,284 forks, 606 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. sandboxd has 946 stars, 60 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 12 days ago. parcel leads on adoption by 4,554% (44,024 vs 946 stars). parcel is written in JavaScript under MIT; sandboxd is written in Go under MIT. parcel has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, sandboxd 6%. sandboxd 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
| parcel | sandboxd | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 946 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-06 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.3K | ⑂ 60 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick parcel if
- You weight community size — 44K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick sandboxd if
- You want the sandboxd feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and sandboxd fits your workflow better
About parcel
Parcel is a zero configuration build tool for the web, distributed as the parcel package on npm and licensed under MIT. It lives in the JavaScript ecosystem and is written primarily in JavaScript, with its JavaScript compiler implemented in Rust for native performance. The project has been developed for roughly nine years, carries more than 44,000 stars and over 2,200 forks on GitHub, and its documentation is hosted at parceljs.org.
read the full parcel overview →
About sandboxd
sandboxd is an open source, self hosted AI app builder that runs a coding agent inside isolated sandboxes on your own server and gives every generated app its own live preview URL, and it is built for developers and teams who want the prompt to app workflow of hosted builders without giving up their infrastructure, code, or data.
read the full sandboxd overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is parcel or sandboxd more popular?
parcel has 44,024 GitHub stars and sandboxd has 946. parcel has the larger community by that measure.
Are parcel and sandboxd free?
Both are open source. parcel is licensed under MIT and sandboxd under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between parcel and sandboxd?
parcel is written in JavaScript and sandboxd in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, parcel or sandboxd?
Choose parcel if you want the larger community (44,024 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose sandboxd if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.