head to head · open source
vitest vs Hercules
vitest has 17,124 GitHub stars, 2,008 forks, 425 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Hercules has 1,162 stars, 190 forks, 39 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. vitest leads on adoption by 1,374% (17,124 vs 1,162 stars). vitest is written in TypeScript under MIT; Hercules is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. vitest has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, Hercules 16%. vitest 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.
← all 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| vitest | Hercules | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.0K | ⑂ 190 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vitest if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Hercules if
- You want the Hercules feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and Hercules fits your workflow better
About vitest
Vitest is a next generation JavaScript and TypeScript testing framework powered by Vite, built for teams already running Vite who want Jest compatible tests without maintaining a second, separate build pipeline.
read the full vitest overview →
About Hercules
Hercules is an open source, AGPL 3.0 testing agent that turns plain Gherkin feature files into automated end to end UI, API, security, accessibility and visual tests for QA engineers, developers and platform teams who need browser level coverage without writing or maintaining test code.
read the full Hercules overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Testing & Quality Assurance projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Testing & Quality Assurance field.
Frequently asked questions
Is vitest or Hercules more popular?
vitest has 17,124 GitHub stars and Hercules has 1,162. vitest has the larger community by that measure.
Are vitest and Hercules free?
Both are open source. vitest is licensed under MIT and Hercules under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between vitest and Hercules?
vitest is written in TypeScript and Hercules in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, vitest or Hercules?
Choose vitest if you want the larger community (17,124 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Hercules if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.