head to head · open source
webpack vs create-elm-app
webpack has 65,945 GitHub stars, 9,545 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped today. create-elm-app has 1,676 stars, 147 forks, 54 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. webpack leads on adoption by 3,835% (65,945 vs 1,676 stars). webpack is written in JavaScript under MIT; create-elm-app is written in JavaScript under MIT. webpack has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, create-elm-app 9%. webpack was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (build-tool), 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
| webpack | create-elm-app | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.5K | ⑂ 147 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick webpack if
- You weight community size — 66K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick create-elm-app if
- You want the create-elm-app feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and create-elm-app fits your workflow better
About webpack
webpack is an open source module bundler for JavaScript and related assets, distributed under the MIT license and published to npm. It lives in the JavaScript ecosystem, where the README describes its main purpose as bundling JavaScript files for use in a browser, while also being capable of transforming, bundling, or packaging just about any resource or asset. Loaders let modules arrive in many forms — CommonJS, AMD, ES6 modules, CSS, images, JSON, CoffeeScript, LESS, or custom formats — and the plugin system extends what the build can do.
read the full webpack overview →
About create-elm-app
Create Elm App Create Elm apps with no build configuration. Getting Started – How to create a new app. User Guide – How to develop apps bootstrapped with Create Elm App. Elm SPA example Using Create Elm App Elm in SPA example by Richard Feldman. Quickstart Create a production build with elm app build Getting Started Installation Node =8 is required for installation. Yarn yarn global add create elm app NPM npm install create elm app g If you are running Linux OS, you should install it as the superuser: sudo npm install create elm app g Creating an App To create a new app, run: Create a new my app folder with files…
read the full create-elm-app overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webpack or create-elm-app more popular?
webpack has 65,945 GitHub stars and create-elm-app has 1,676. webpack has the larger community by that measure.
Are webpack and create-elm-app free?
Both are open source. webpack is licensed under MIT and create-elm-app under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webpack and create-elm-app?
webpack is written in JavaScript and create-elm-app in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, webpack or create-elm-app?
Choose webpack if you want the larger community (65,945 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose create-elm-app if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.