head to head · open source
changedetection.io vs browsertrix-crawler
changedetection.io has 34,312 GitHub stars, 2,064 forks, 385 open issues and last shipped today. browsertrix-crawler has 1,140 stars, 150 forks, 145 open issues and last shipped today. changedetection.io leads on adoption by 2,910% (34,312 vs 1,140 stars). changedetection.io is written in Python under Apache-2.0; browsertrix-crawler is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. changedetection.io has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, browsertrix-crawler 13%. browsertrix-crawler 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| changedetection.io | browsertrix-crawler | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 34K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 150 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick changedetection.io if
- You weight community size — 34K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick browsertrix-crawler if
- You want the browsertrix-crawler feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and browsertrix-crawler fits your workflow better
About changedetection.io
changedetection.io is an open source website change detection and web page monitoring tool written in Python and released under the Apache 2.0 license. It watches URLs, detects when their content changes, and sends alerts through channels such as Discord, Email, Slack, Telegram, and Webhook. The project lives in the Data & Analytics / Data Extraction & Web Scraping ecosystem, carries more than 34,000 stars and 2,000 forks on GitHub, and has been developed for roughly six years. It is designed to be self hosted, and the same codebase also backs a hosted subscription service offered by the maintainers.…
read the full changedetection.io overview →
About browsertrix-crawler
Browsertrix Crawler 1.x Browsertrix Crawler is a standalone browser based high fidelity crawling system, designed to run a complex, customizable browser based crawl in a single Docker container. Browsertrix Crawler uses Puppeteer to control one or more Brave Browser browser windows in parallel. Data is captured through the Chrome Devtools Protocol (CDP) in the browser. For information on how to use and develop Browsertrix Crawler, see the hosted Browsertrix Crawler documentation. For information on how to build the docs locally, see the docs page. Support Initial support for 0.x version of Browsertrix Crawler, wa…
read the full browsertrix-crawler overview →
More in Data & Analytics
Related comparisons
More Data Extraction & Web Scraping projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Data Extraction & Web Scraping field.
Frequently asked questions
Is changedetection.io or browsertrix-crawler more popular?
changedetection.io has 34,312 GitHub stars and browsertrix-crawler has 1,140. changedetection.io has the larger community by that measure.
Are changedetection.io and browsertrix-crawler free?
Both are open source. changedetection.io is licensed under Apache-2.0 and browsertrix-crawler under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between changedetection.io and browsertrix-crawler?
changedetection.io is written in Python and browsertrix-crawler 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, changedetection.io or browsertrix-crawler?
Choose changedetection.io if you want the larger community (34,312 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose browsertrix-crawler if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.