head to head · open source
webpack vs modern.js
webpack has 65,945 GitHub stars, 9,545 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped yesterday. modern.js has 5,042 stars, 420 forks, 66 open issues and last shipped yesterday. webpack leads on adoption by 1,208% (65,945 vs 5,042 stars). webpack is written in JavaScript under MIT; modern.js is written in TypeScript under MIT. webpack has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, modern.js 8%. 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 | modern.js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 5.0K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.5K | ⑂ 420 |
| 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 modern.js if
- You want the modern.js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and modern.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 modern.js
Modern.js is a progressive web framework built on React, written in TypeScript and released under the MIT license. It is developed by ByteDance, where it is used to build upper level frameworks that have supported the development of thousands of web applications. The project lives in the JavaScript and React ecosystem, and it is closely tied to the web infra dev family of tools, which includes Rspack, Rsbuild, Rspress and Rslib. The repository has been active for roughly five years, carries about 5,042 stars and 420 forks, and shows 66 open issues.
read the full modern.js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webpack or modern.js more popular?
webpack has 65,945 GitHub stars and modern.js has 5,042. webpack has the larger community by that measure.
Are webpack and modern.js free?
Both are open source. webpack is licensed under MIT and modern.js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webpack and modern.js?
webpack is written in JavaScript and modern.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 modern.js?
Choose webpack if you want the larger community (65,945 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose modern.js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.