head to head · open source
jest vs vitest
jest has 45,472 GitHub stars, 6,717 forks, 228 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vitest has 17,323 stars, 2,124 forks, 425 open issues and last shipped yesterday. jest leads on adoption by 162% (45,472 vs 17,323 stars). jest is written in TypeScript under MIT; vitest is written in TypeScript under MIT. jest has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, vitest 12%. 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
| jest | vitest | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 17K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.7K | ⑂ 2.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick jest if
- You weight community size — 45K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick vitest if
- You want the vitest feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and vitest fits your workflow better
About jest
🃏 Delightful JavaScript Testing 👩🏻💻 Developer Ready : A comprehensive JavaScript testing solution. Works out of the box for most JavaScript projects. 🏃🏽 Instant Feedback : Fast, interactive watch mode only runs test files related to changed files. 📸 Snapshot Testing : Capture snapshots of large objects to simplify testing and to analyze how they change over time. See more on jestjs.io Table of Contents Getting Started Running from command line Additional Configuration Generate a basic configuration file Using Babel Using webpack Using Vite Using Parcel Using Typescript Documentation Badge Contributing…
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is jest or vitest more popular?
jest has 45,472 GitHub stars and vitest has 17,323. jest has the larger community by that measure.
Are jest and vitest free?
Both are open source. jest is licensed under MIT and vitest under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between jest and vitest?
jest is written in TypeScript and vitest 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, jest or vitest?
Choose jest if you want the larger community (45,472 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose vitest if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.