head to head · open source
AdGuardHome vs lightway-core
AdGuardHome has 37,074 GitHub stars, 2,523 forks, 1,253 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lightway-core has 626 stars, 72 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. AdGuardHome leads on adoption by 5,822% (37,074 vs 626 stars). AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; lightway-core is written in C under GPL-2.0. AdGuardHome has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, lightway-core 12%. AdGuardHome was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| AdGuardHome | lightway-core | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 626 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C |
| Last push | 2026-09-25 | 2026-04-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 72 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AdGuardHome if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick lightway-core if
- You want the lightway-core feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C
- You evaluated both and lightway-core fits your workflow better
About AdGuardHome
AdGuard Home is a free and open source, network wide DNS server that blocks ads and trackers for every device on a network, aimed at self hosters, homelab operators, and network administrators who want filtering without installing client side software on each device.
read the full AdGuardHome overview →
About lightway-core
Lightway Core is a small, multi platform C library published by ExpressVPN that provides the foundational components of a virtual private network protocol, written for developers, researchers, and VPN operators who want to build on or study the protocol behind ExpressVPN's Lightway.
read the full lightway-core overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AdGuardHome or lightway-core more popular?
AdGuardHome has 37,074 GitHub stars and lightway-core has 626. AdGuardHome has the larger community by that measure.
Are AdGuardHome and lightway-core free?
Both are open source. AdGuardHome is licensed under GPL-3.0 and lightway-core under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AdGuardHome and lightway-core?
AdGuardHome is written in TypeScript and lightway-core in C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, AdGuardHome or lightway-core?
Choose AdGuardHome if you want the larger community (37,074 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose lightway-core if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.