head to head · open source
webpack vs please
webpack has 65,979 GitHub stars, 9,617 forks, 123 open issues and last shipped yesterday. please has 2,627 stars, 223 forks, 120 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. webpack leads on adoption by 2,412% (65,979 vs 2,627 stars). webpack is written in JavaScript under MIT; please is written in Go under Apache-2.0. webpack has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, please 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 | please | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 2.6K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.6K | ⑂ 223 |
| 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 please if
- You want the please feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and please fits your workflow better
About webpack
[![npm][npm]][npm url] [![node][node]][node url] [![builds1][builds1]][builds1 url] [![dependency review][dependency review]][dependency review url] [![coverage][cover]][cover url] [![PR's welcome][prs]][prs url] webpack Webpack is a module bundler. Its main purpose is to bundle JavaScript files for usage in a browser, yet it is also capable of transforming, bundling, or packaging just about any resource or asset. Table of Contents Install Introduction Concepts Contributing Support Current project members TSC (Technical Steering Committee) Core Collaborators Sponsoring Premium Partners Gold Sponsors Silver…
read the full webpack overview →
About please
Please Please is a cross language build system with an emphasis on high performance, extensibility and reproducibility. It supports a number of popular languages and can automate nearly any aspect of your build process. See please.build for more information. Currently Linux (tested on Ubuntu), macOS and FreeBSD are actively supported. If you're a fan of Please, don't forget to add yourself to the adopters file. Getting Started =============== The easiest way to install it on your own machine is to run: Or, if you prefer, grab one of the tarballs off our releases page and extract it yourself; it typically lives…
read the full please overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webpack or please more popular?
webpack has 65,979 GitHub stars and please has 2,627. webpack has the larger community by that measure.
Are webpack and please free?
Both are open source. webpack is licensed under MIT and please under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webpack and please?
webpack is written in JavaScript and please in Go. 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 please?
Choose webpack if you want the larger community (65,979 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose please if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.