head to head · open source
CloakBrowser vs ff-ruyijs
CloakBrowser has 32,693 GitHub stars, 2,719 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ff-ruyijs has 537 stars, 274 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped yesterday. CloakBrowser leads on adoption by 5,988% (32,693 vs 537 stars). CloakBrowser is written in Python under MIT; ff-ruyijs is written in C++ under AGPL-3.0. CloakBrowser has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, ff-ruyijs 51%. ff-ruyijs was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (headless-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
| CloakBrowser | ff-ruyijs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 537 |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 274 |
| 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 ff-ruyijs if
- You want the ff-ruyijs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and ff-ruyijs 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 ff-ruyijs
🦊 ruyiJS Run any site's JavaScript from Python — with the real Firefox engine. A new generation, minimalist browser purpose built for AI driven automation. The authentic Firefox JavaScript engine and networking stack, with no window and no renderer — made for web scraping, JS reverse engineering, data collection, and getting past bot checks. Sponsored by Contributors Install · Features · Verification systems · Examples · FAQ · Contact · LinuxDO · English · 简体中文 ⚠️ Disclaimer: This project is for researching next generation AI browsers. Any form of brute force reverse engineering is strictly rejected. The source…
read the full ff-ruyijs overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is CloakBrowser or ff-ruyijs more popular?
CloakBrowser has 32,693 GitHub stars and ff-ruyijs has 537. CloakBrowser has the larger community by that measure.
Are CloakBrowser and ff-ruyijs free?
Both are open source. CloakBrowser is licensed under MIT and ff-ruyijs under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CloakBrowser and ff-ruyijs?
CloakBrowser is written in Python and ff-ruyijs in C++. 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 ff-ruyijs?
Choose CloakBrowser if you want the larger community (32,693 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ff-ruyijs if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.