head to head · open source
Brave vs Flow
Brave has 23,676 GitHub stars, 3,216 forks, 10,752 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Flow has 1,076 stars, 61 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Brave leads on adoption by 2,100% (23,676 vs 1,076 stars). Brave is written in various languages under MPL-2.0; Flow is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Brave has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, Flow 6%. Brave was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (browser, chromium), 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
| Brave | Flow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 24K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | — | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-05-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 61 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Brave if
- You weight community size — 24K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Flow if
- You want the Flow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Flow fits your workflow better
About Brave
Brave is a Chromium based web browser for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, released under the MPL 2.0 licence, and this repository is the project's public issue tracker, release channel, and developer wiki rather than the home of its source code.
read the full Brave overview →
About Flow
Flow Browser is a free, GPL 3.0 licensed desktop web browser built on Electron and Chromium, written in TypeScript, that runs Chrome extensions from the Chrome Web Store and is aimed at people who want a minimal, privacy focused alternative to mainstream browsers.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Brave or Flow more popular?
Brave has 23,676 GitHub stars and Flow has 1,076. Brave has the larger community by that measure.
Are Brave and Flow free?
Both are open source. Brave is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Flow under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Brave and Flow?
Brave is written in various languages and Flow 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, Brave or Flow?
Choose Brave if you want the larger community (23,676 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Flow if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.