head to head · open source
vite vs extension.js
vite has 82,861 GitHub stars, 8,745 forks, 767 open issues and last shipped yesterday. extension.js has 5,159 stars, 139 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vite leads on adoption by 1,506% (82,861 vs 5,159 stars). vite is written in TypeScript under MIT; extension.js is written in TypeScript under MIT. vite has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, extension.js 3%. extension.js was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (build-tool, dev-server, hmr), 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
| vite | extension.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 83K | ★ 5.2K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.7K | ⑂ 139 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vite if
- You weight community size — 83K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick extension.js if
- You want the extension.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and extension.js fits your workflow better
About vite
Vite is a build tool for modern web projects, distributed as a set of npm packages and licensed under MIT. It is written in TypeScript and lives in the JavaScript and frontend tooling ecosystem, where it sits alongside the bundlers and dev servers that compile application source into browser ready assets. The project describes itself as next generation frontend tooling and has been maintained for roughly six years, with the most recent push recorded in September 2026.
About extension.js
extension.js is an open source cross browser extension framework written in TypeScript under the MIT license. It targets Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari, and it lets developers build extensions without a separate build configuration for each browser.
read the full extension.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vite or extension.js more popular?
vite has 82,861 GitHub stars and extension.js has 5,159. vite has the larger community by that measure.
Are vite and extension.js free?
Both are open source. vite is licensed under MIT and extension.js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vite and extension.js?
vite is written in TypeScript and extension.js 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, vite or extension.js?
Choose vite if you want the larger community (82,861 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose extension.js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.