head to head · open source
webpack vs extension.js
webpack has 65,945 GitHub stars, 9,545 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped yesterday. extension.js has 5,159 stars, 139 forks, 7 open issues and last shipped yesterday. webpack leads on adoption by 1,178% (65,945 vs 5,159 stars). webpack is written in JavaScript under MIT; extension.js is written in TypeScript under MIT. webpack has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, extension.js 3%. 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 | extension.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 5.2K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.5K | ⑂ 139 |
| 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 extension.js if
- You want the extension.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and extension.js 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 extension.js
extension.js is an open source cross browser extension framework written in TypeScript under the MIT license. It targets Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Safari, and it lets developers build extensions without a separate build configuration for each browser.
read the full extension.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webpack or extension.js more popular?
webpack has 65,945 GitHub stars and extension.js has 5,159. webpack has the larger community by that measure.
Are webpack and extension.js free?
Both are open source. webpack is licensed under MIT and extension.js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webpack and extension.js?
webpack is written in JavaScript and extension.js 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, webpack or extension.js?
Choose webpack if you want the larger community (65,945 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose extension.js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.