head to head · open source
cap vs waterfox
cap has 22,381 GitHub stars, 1,918 forks, 339 open issues and last shipped yesterday. waterfox has 6,291 stars, 431 forks, 332 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. cap leads on adoption by 256% (22,381 vs 6,291 stars). cap is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence; waterfox is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence. cap has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, waterfox 7%. cap 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
| cap | waterfox | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | Rust | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 431 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick cap if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick waterfox if
- You want the waterfox feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and waterfox fits your workflow better
About cap
Cap open source screen recording sharing project for teams. Lives web desktop software ecosystem. Uses Rust TypeScript stack, Next.js web dashboard, desktop apps macOS Windows. Presents alternative Loom. Supports importing existing Loom videos.
About waterfox
Waterfox is an open source web browser built on Mozilla Firefox, with source code maintained in this repository. The project describes itself as a customisable browser based on the Mozilla Firefox codebase, and the tree contains both the upstream Mozilla platform code and the Waterfox specific product layer that sits on top of it. It lives in the JavaScript and Gecko browser ecosystem, sharing the rendering engine, build system and testing tooling that Mozilla maintains for Firefox. The browser is distributed to end users through the project's own website, while the source distribution here targets people who wan…
read the full waterfox overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is cap or waterfox more popular?
cap has 22,381 GitHub stars and waterfox has 6,291. cap has the larger community by that measure.
Are cap and waterfox free?
Neither cap nor waterfox declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between cap and waterfox?
cap is written in Rust and waterfox in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, cap or waterfox?
Choose cap if you want the larger community (22,381 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose waterfox if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.