head to head · open source
vitest vs Hercules
vitest has 17,323 GitHub stars, 2,124 forks, 425 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Hercules has 1,210 stars, 202 forks, 39 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. vitest leads on adoption by 1,332% (17,323 vs 1,210 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 17%. 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.
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Side by side
| vitest | Hercules | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 202 |
| 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 Next generation testing framework powered by Vite. Get involved! Documentation Getting Started Examples Why Vitest? 中文文档 Features Vite's config, transformers, resolvers, and plugins. Use the same setup from your app! Jest Snapshot Chai built in for assertions, with Jest expect compatible APIs Smart & instant watch mode, like HMR for tests! Native code coverage via v8 or istanbul . Jest compatible mocking, stubbing, and spies. JSDOM and happy dom for DOM and browser API mocking Browser Mode for running component tests in the browser Components testing (Vue, React, Svelte, Lit, Marko) Benchmarking support…
read the full vitest overview →
About Hercules
💪 Hercules Testing modern web applications can be difficult, with frequent changes and complex features making it hard to keep up. That's where Hercules comes in. Hercules is the world's first open source testing agent, built to handle the toughest testing tasks so you don't have to. It turns simple, easy to write Gherkin steps into fully automated end to end tests—no coding skills needed. Whether you're working with tricky enterprise platforms or running tests in your CI/CD pipeline, Hercules adapts to your needs and takes care of the details. With Hercules, testing becomes simple, reliable, and efficient…
read the full Hercules overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is vitest or Hercules more popular?
vitest has 17,323 GitHub stars and Hercules has 1,210. 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 (17,323 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Hercules if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.