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JavaScript runtimes: star history compared

Most starred

122k

nodejs/node

Node.js normalized JavaScript on the server and spent a decade unchallenged. Then Deno arrived with a security-first pitch from Node's own creator, and Bun's first months of stars rank among the fastest climbs GitHub has recorded for infrastructure software. The totals still favor the incumbent; the recent-velocity numbers are a much closer race.

Ranked by current GitHub stars · growth = stars gained in the trailing 90 days · data updated Sep 2026

JavaScript runtimes — star history
135k STARS11 YR 10 MOnodejs/node135kdenoland/deno115koven-sh/bun83kquickjs-ng/quickjs2.2k

nodejs/node: 135,357 stars on September 16, 2026. denoland/deno: 114,635 stars on September 16, 2026. oven-sh/bun: 82,527 stars on September 16, 2026. quickjs-ng/quickjs: 2,159 stars on September 13, 2026.

Star history for nodejs/node
DateStars
November 26, 20144
January 17, 20158517
March 11, 201511176
May 3, 201512321
June 25, 201513256
August 17, 201514069
October 9, 201516799
December 1, 201518882
January 24, 201620880
March 17, 201622777
May 19, 201625241
July 11, 201627091
September 2, 201628929
October 25, 201631039
December 17, 201633039
February 8, 201735753
April 2, 201738363
May 25, 201740473
July 16, 201742550
September 7, 201744800
October 30, 201747614
December 22, 201750217
February 13, 201852262
April 8, 201854307
May 31, 201856628
July 23, 201858785
September 14, 201860700
November 6, 201862584
December 28, 201864323
February 19, 201966045
April 24, 201968668
June 16, 201970655
August 8, 201972227
September 30, 201973631
November 22, 201975256
January 13, 202076757
March 6, 202078056
April 28, 202079858
June 20, 202081777
August 12, 202083296
October 5, 202084731
November 27, 202086678
January 19, 202188023
March 13, 202189839
May 5, 202191307
June 29, 202192865
August 21, 202194801
October 16, 202195989
December 13, 202197252
February 4, 202299225
April 9, 2022101081
June 1, 2022102515
July 23, 2022103719
September 14, 2022105295
November 6, 2022106563
December 29, 2022107743
February 20, 2023109113
April 14, 2023110526
June 6, 2023111990
July 29, 2023113246
September 20, 2023114617
November 12, 2023116503
January 3, 2024118400
February 25, 2024119753
April 18, 2024121776
June 10, 2024123184
August 2, 2024124643
September 24, 2024125872
November 16, 2024127260
January 8, 2025128501
March 12, 2025130120
May 4, 2025131210
June 26, 2025132123
August 18, 2025132878
October 15, 2025133501
December 8, 2025133976
January 30, 2026134460
March 24, 2026134797
May 18, 2026135005
September 16, 2026135357
Star history for denoland/deno
DateStars
May 29, 2018337
July 4, 201821093
August 10, 201822907
September 16, 201824454
October 23, 201825553
November 28, 201826483
January 4, 201927679
February 10, 201929588
March 19, 201930940
April 24, 201932665
June 8, 201934503
July 14, 201936058
August 20, 201937156
September 26, 201938075
November 2, 201938847
December 8, 201939681
January 14, 202040750
February 20, 202044803
March 28, 202046266
May 3, 202048183
June 9, 202063917
July 16, 202066739
August 23, 202068183
September 28, 202069443
November 4, 202070712
December 11, 202072424
January 17, 202173809
February 23, 202175416
March 31, 202176724
May 7, 202178274
June 23, 202179395
July 30, 202180233
September 8, 202181134
October 16, 202181764
November 26, 202182366
January 2, 202283115
February 8, 202284070
March 17, 202284934
April 22, 202286003
May 29, 202287021
July 5, 202288116
August 11, 202289035
September 16, 202290039
October 23, 202290845
November 29, 202291605
January 5, 202392227
February 10, 202393189
March 19, 202393961
April 25, 202394671
June 1, 202395424
July 15, 202396048
August 21, 202396592
September 26, 202397253
November 2, 202397832
December 9, 202398289
January 15, 202498767
February 21, 202499507
March 28, 2024100078
May 4, 2024100551
June 10, 2024101012
July 17, 2024101469
August 22, 2024101917
September 28, 2024102771
November 4, 2024105634
December 11, 2024106853
January 16, 2025109757
February 22, 2025110674
March 31, 2025111363
May 7, 2025111955
June 12, 2025112401
July 27, 2025112793
September 1, 2025113093
October 8, 2025113494
November 20, 2025113752
December 27, 2025113973
February 1, 2026114179
March 11, 2026114343
April 20, 2026114474
June 4, 2026114553
September 16, 2026114635
Star history for oven-sh/bun
DateStars
July 5, 2022692
July 23, 202223352
August 10, 202226159
August 29, 202228339
September 16, 202229291
October 5, 202230025
October 23, 202230772
November 11, 202231425
November 29, 202231851
December 17, 202232271
January 9, 202333107
January 27, 202333917
February 14, 202334592
March 5, 202335394
March 23, 202335879
April 11, 202336322
April 29, 202336684
May 18, 202337129
June 5, 202337663
June 23, 202338038
July 12, 202338472
July 30, 202338882
August 18, 202339266
September 5, 202339837
September 24, 202358397
October 12, 202360146
October 30, 202360994
November 18, 202361671
December 6, 202362168
December 25, 202362718
January 16, 202463606
February 3, 202464553
February 22, 202465162
March 11, 202465699
March 30, 202466288
April 17, 202467510
May 5, 202468099
May 24, 202468580
June 11, 202468994
June 30, 202469397
July 18, 202469937
August 6, 202470381
August 24, 202470818
September 12, 202471258
September 30, 202471728
October 18, 202472187
November 6, 202472600
November 24, 202472932
December 13, 202473370
December 31, 202473787
January 22, 202574293
February 10, 202575006
February 28, 202575439
March 19, 202575891
April 6, 202576303
April 24, 202576705
May 13, 202577102
May 31, 202577420
June 19, 202577644
July 7, 202577875
July 26, 202578126
August 13, 202578340
August 31, 202578647
September 19, 202578841
October 7, 202579041
October 30, 202579293
November 17, 202579458
December 6, 202580249
December 24, 202580720
January 11, 202681045
February 3, 202681377
February 21, 202681564
March 11, 202681741
March 31, 202681848
April 18, 202681970
May 7, 202682046
May 25, 202682401
June 15, 202682442
July 16, 202682474
September 16, 202682527
Star history for quickjs-ng/quickjs
DateStars
November 1, 20232
November 19, 202316
November 29, 2023165
December 8, 2023214
December 17, 2023254
December 27, 2023304
January 5, 2024336
January 17, 2024369
January 26, 2024390
February 9, 2024407
February 20, 2024445
March 3, 2024463
March 13, 2024483
March 24, 2024512
April 9, 2024535
April 20, 2024545
May 2, 2024561
May 15, 2024580
May 31, 2024596
June 13, 2024618
June 27, 2024642
July 8, 2024749
July 17, 2024803
July 28, 2024816
August 9, 2024836
August 19, 2024861
August 30, 2024880
September 13, 2024894
September 25, 2024914
October 9, 2024936
October 22, 2024963
November 1, 2024990
November 10, 20241012
November 19, 20241052
November 30, 20241103
December 11, 20241121
December 23, 20241150
January 1, 20251174
January 10, 20251244
January 19, 20251273
January 28, 20251294
February 7, 20251315
February 17, 20251337
February 26, 20251361
March 8, 20251396
March 17, 20251435
March 27, 20251472
April 6, 20251497
April 16, 20251523
April 25, 20251547
May 8, 20251581
May 17, 20251605
May 28, 20251626
June 8, 20251648
June 19, 20251678
July 1, 20251700
July 15, 20251719
July 25, 20251744
August 4, 20251780
August 14, 20251798
August 23, 20251820
September 2, 20251838
September 23, 20251861
October 4, 20251875
October 20, 20251888
November 2, 20251902
November 14, 20251920
November 29, 20251942
December 13, 20251957
December 25, 20251996
January 6, 20262031
January 25, 20262049
February 6, 20262062
February 20, 20262081
March 7, 20262095
March 28, 20262111
April 24, 20262124
May 11, 20262136
June 25, 20262147
September 13, 20262159

How each series was read

  • nodejs/node

    Historical star data · Covers through September 16, 2026

  • denoland/deno

    Historical star data · Covers through September 16, 2026

  • oven-sh/bun

    Historical star data · Covers through September 16, 2026

  • quickjs-ng/quickjs

    Historical star data · Covers through September 13, 2026

Ranking

4 repositories

JavaScript runtimes ranked by current total GitHub stars
#RepositoryStars+90dFirst starHealth
1nodejs/node121,962~3332014debt charts
2denoland/deno108,454~702018debt charts
3oven-sh/bun95,972~802022debt charts
4quickjs-ng/quickjs3,743~132023debt charts

Repository health compared

Live analysis · unavailable data stays labelled

Popularity is only one axis. Compare technical scale, maintenance cadence, ownership resilience and change pressure against the same completed analysis that sits behind each report.

Reach

Popularity and real-world adoption

Signalnodejs/nodedenoland/denooven-sh/bunquickjs-ng/quickjs
GitHub starsCurrent public GitHub metadata total.Best result in this row: 121,962108,45495,9723,743
Stars gained · trailing 90dChange in the newest 90 days covered by each cached series.Best result in this row: +333+70+80+13
ForksCurrent public GitHub metadata total.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Largest package audienceLargest resolved registry total; sources are shown explicitly.No resolved packageNo resolved packageNo resolved packageNo resolved package
Repository ageElapsed years since the GitHub creation timestamp.12 years8.3 years5.4 years2.9 years

Codebase

Size and technical center of gravity

Signalnodejs/nodedenoland/denooven-sh/bunquickjs-ng/quickjs
Dominant languageLargest share of analyzed code lines at current HEAD.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Code linesAnalyzed source lines at current HEAD, excluding blanks and comments.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Languages representedLanguages with non-zero files or line counts.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available

Maintenance

Commit volume and recent operating cadence

Signalnodejs/nodedenoland/denooven-sh/bunquickjs-ng/quickjs
Repository commitsFull repository commit total reported by the analysis.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Commits · trailing 90dCommit count in the newest 90 days covered by the repository analysis.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available

Ownership

How broadly maintenance responsibility is distributed

Signalnodejs/nodedenoland/denooven-sh/bunquickjs-ng/quickjs
Bus factorFewest analyzed contributors carrying at least half the commits.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Top contributor concentrationShare of attributed commits carried by the most active contributor.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available

Change signals

Debt markers and fix pressure in frequently changed files

Signalnodejs/nodedenoland/denooven-sh/bunquickjs-ng/quickjs
Fix-labelled share · frequently changed filesFix-labelled commits divided by commits across the analyzed high-frequency file set.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available
Recent TODO/FIXME movementLatest cumulative marker count and its change over the trailing 90 days.Not availableNot availableNot availableNot available

Head to head

open in the builder

Frequently asked

Which of these javascript runtimes has the most GitHub stars?

nodejs/node is the most-starred of the javascript runtimes gitdebt compares, with 121,962 GitHub stars as of Sep 2026. It earned its first star in 2014.

Which of these javascript runtimes is growing the fastest?

nodejs/node added the most stars over the last 90 days of its cached history — about 333 new stars. 90-day figures are approximate for older repos, whose history is downsampled.

How is this comparison computed?

The table ranks public repository metadata by current total stars. Each curve is that repository's stored star series — read either from GitHub's stargazer list or rebuilt from historical star data — drawn on shared axes, with trailing 90-day growth estimated from it. The legend under the chart names each series' own source and coverage date. Repo-health charts come independently from each repository's commit history.

Related categories

all categories

Fastest-growing repos across all of gitdebt