head to head · open source
CloakBrowser vs ferret
CloakBrowser has 32,712 GitHub stars, 2,720 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ferret has 6,021 stars, 325 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. CloakBrowser leads on adoption by 443% (32,712 vs 6,021 stars). CloakBrowser is written in Python under MIT; ferret is written in Go under Apache-2.0. CloakBrowser has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, ferret 5%. CloakBrowser was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser-automation), 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
| CloakBrowser | ferret | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 325 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick CloakBrowser if
- You weight community size — 33K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ferret if
- You want the ferret feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and ferret fits your workflow better
About CloakBrowser
Stealth Chromium that passes every bot detection test. Not a patched config. Not a JS injection. A real Chromium binary with fingerprints modified at the C++ source level. Antibot systems score it as a normal browser — because it is a normal browser. Cloudflare Turnstile — 3 live tests passing (headed mode, macOS) Drop in Playwright/Puppeteer replacement for Python and JavaScript. Same API, same code — just swap the import. 3 lines of code, 30 seconds to unblock. 87 source level C++ patches — canvas, WebGL, audio, fonts, GPU, screen, WebRTC, network timing, automation signals, CDP input behavior humanize=True —…
read the full CloakBrowser overview →
About ferret
Ferret Try it! Docs CLI Test runner Web worker Explore Ferret v2 Ferret v2 is currently in alpha. You can try the new syntax in the playground and read more about the design behind the new runtime and language capabilities: Try Ferret v2 in the Playground On the Road to Ferret v2 Inside Ferret v2: The New Execution Model Inside Ferret v2: New Language Capabilities Notice: This branch contains the upcoming Ferret v2 . For the stable v1 release, please visit Ferret v1. What is it? Ferret is a declarative first, expression oriented embedded language and runtime for data automation. FQL combines querying…
read the full ferret overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CloakBrowser or ferret more popular?
CloakBrowser has 32,712 GitHub stars and ferret has 6,021. CloakBrowser has the larger community by that measure.
Are CloakBrowser and ferret free?
Both are open source. CloakBrowser is licensed under MIT and ferret under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CloakBrowser and ferret?
CloakBrowser is written in Python and ferret in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, CloakBrowser or ferret?
Choose CloakBrowser if you want the larger community (32,712 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ferret if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.