Awesome

What it is

Awesome is a list of lists. It does not recommend libraries directly; it links to curated "awesome-something" lists maintained by other people, grouped into more than thirty categories, including platforms, programming languages, front-end development, back-end development, computer science, big data, gaming, security, databases and DevOps.

It is one of the most starred repositories on GitHub, with about 509k stars and 37k forks as of September 2026. The content is dedicated to the public domain under CC0.

How lists get in

Lists must follow the awesome manifesto and contribution guidelines: they should be curated rather than dumps of links, focused on a single topic, well formatted and actively maintained. There is an automated linter for list formatting. The README notes that pull request review has been paused while maintainers deal with the backlog, so the index is not growing quickly at the moment.

How to use it well

• Starting a new area: find the matching list (for example awesome-go, awesome-react or awesome-selfhosted), read its introduction, and pick the two or three most mentioned resources rather than trying everything.
• Choosing a library: use the list to build a shortlist, then check each candidate's recent activity, issues and documentation yourself.
• Learning: many lists include tutorials, books and courses alongside tools.
• Contributing: adding a genuinely useful resource to a topic list is a gentle first open source contribution. Read that list's contribution rules first.

Weak spots

• Uneven quality. Each list is maintained by different people. Some are excellent and current; others have gone stale, with dead links and abandoned projects.
• No ranking. Most lists do not say which option is best for which situation, so you still need to evaluate.
• Popularity is not endorsement. Inclusion shows that someone found something useful, not that it is production ready.

Check the last commit date of any list before trusting it.

Common questions

Is it only for programming? Mostly, but there are lists on topics from design and science to productivity.

How is it different from a search engine? Lists are curated by people who work in each area, so you skip a lot of SEO content and outdated tutorials.

Best for: developers and students exploring a new language, framework or field who want a curated starting map of tools and resources.