head to head · open source
webtorrent vs chromium
webtorrent has 31,465 GitHub stars, 2,852 forks, 83 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. chromium has 25,223 stars, 9,398 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped yesterday. webtorrent leads on adoption by 25% (31,465 vs 25,223 stars). webtorrent is written in JavaScript under MIT; chromium is written in various languages under BSD-3-Clause. webtorrent has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, chromium 37%. chromium was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser), 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
| webtorrent | chromium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 25K |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | JavaScript | — |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 9.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick webtorrent if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick chromium if
- You want the chromium feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- You evaluated both and chromium fits your workflow better
About webtorrent
WebTorrent The streaming torrent client. For node.js and the web. Sponsored by WebTorrent is a streaming torrent client for node.js and the browser . YEP, THAT'S RIGHT. THE BROWSER. It's written completely in JavaScript – the language of the web – so the same code works in both runtimes. In node.js, this module is a simple torrent client, using TCP and UDP to talk to other torrent clients. In the browser, WebTorrent uses WebRTC (data channels) for peer to peer transport. It can be used without browser plugins, extensions, or installations. It's Just JavaScript™. Note: WebTorrent does not support UDP/TCP peers in…
read the full webtorrent overview →
About chromium
Chromium Chromium is an open source browser project that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all users to experience the web. The project's web site is To check out the source code locally, don't use git clone ! Instead, follow the instructions on how to get the code. Documentation in the source is rooted in docs/README.md. Learn how to Get Around the Chromium Source Code Directory Structure. For historical reasons, there are some small top level directories. Now the guidance is that new top level directories are for product (e.g. Chrome, Android WebView, Ash). Even if these products have…
read the full chromium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webtorrent or chromium more popular?
webtorrent has 31,465 GitHub stars and chromium has 25,223. webtorrent has the larger community by that measure.
Are webtorrent and chromium free?
Both are open source. webtorrent is licensed under MIT and chromium under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webtorrent and chromium?
webtorrent is written in JavaScript and chromium in various languages. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, webtorrent or chromium?
Choose webtorrent if you want the larger community (31,465 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose chromium if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.