head to head · open source
webpack vs erlang.mk
webpack has 65,945 GitHub stars, 9,545 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped today. erlang.mk has 587 stars, 237 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. webpack leads on adoption by 11,134% (65,945 vs 587 stars). webpack is written in JavaScript under MIT; erlang.mk is written in Makefile under ISC. webpack has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, erlang.mk 40%. 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 | erlang.mk | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 587 |
| License | MIT | ISC |
| Written in | JavaScript | Makefile |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.5K | ⑂ 237 |
| 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 erlang.mk if
- You want the erlang.mk feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the ISC license terms
- Your stack matches Makefile
- You evaluated both and erlang.mk 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 erlang.mk
= Erlang.mk A build tool for Erlang that just works. guide] Embrace the power and simplicity of Makefiles. [source,make] PROJECT = webchat DEPS = cowboy dep cowboy commit = 2.8.0 include erlang.mk started] Tested and supported on FreeBSD, OSX] and Get help! server].
read the full erlang.mk overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webpack or erlang.mk more popular?
webpack has 65,945 GitHub stars and erlang.mk has 587. webpack has the larger community by that measure.
Are webpack and erlang.mk free?
Both are open source. webpack is licensed under MIT and erlang.mk under ISC. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webpack and erlang.mk?
webpack is written in JavaScript and erlang.mk in Makefile. 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 erlang.mk?
Choose webpack if you want the larger community (65,945 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose erlang.mk if its feature set, stack or ISC licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.