head to head · open source
Cap vs Procaptcha
Cap has 8,236 GitHub stars, 637 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Procaptcha has 303 stars, 10 forks, 39 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Cap leads on adoption by 2,618% (8,236 vs 303 stars). Cap is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Procaptcha is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Cap has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Procaptcha 3%. Procaptcha was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (antispam, captcha), 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
| Cap | Procaptcha | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.2K | ★ 303 |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-29 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 637 | ⑂ 10 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Cap if
- You weight community size — 8.2K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Procaptcha if
- You want the Procaptcha feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Procaptcha fits your workflow better
About Cap
Cap Cap is a lightweight, modern open source CAPTCHA alternative using proof of work and instrumentation challenges . It's fast, private, and extremely simple to integrate. Documentation Read the docs , try the demo or deploy on Railway What is Cap? Cap replaces visual captchas with modern, accessible and privacy preserving challenges. No images, no tracking, no dependencies, works everywhere. The default way to use Cap is with the Standalone Docker container. Learn more about how Cap works Why Cap? 250x smaller than hCaptcha 20kb, zero dependencies, loads in milliseconds Privacy first Cap doesn't send any…
About Procaptcha
Prosopo Procaptcha Prosopo Procaptcha is a drop replacement for reCAPTCHA, hCaptcha, and Cloudflare Turnstile that protects user privacy and collects zero data. Sign up for free and get your sitekey today. You need a sitekey to use this library. Get Started See our docs for help setting up Procaptcha on your website or in your app. Development Environment The monorepo for the Prosopo Procaptcha bot protection software includes open source packages associated with Procaptcha. See for devs.md for information on setting up your development environment. You can run this software as a self hosted bot protection…
read the full Procaptcha overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Cap or Procaptcha more popular?
Cap has 8,236 GitHub stars and Procaptcha has 303. Cap has the larger community by that measure.
Are Cap and Procaptcha free?
Both are open source. Cap has no licence declared in this registry, and Procaptcha is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Cap and Procaptcha?
Cap is written in JavaScript and Procaptcha 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, Cap or Procaptcha?
Choose Cap if you want the larger community (8,236 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Procaptcha if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.