head to head · open source
dots vs Maxun
dots has 32,357 GitHub stars, 4,739 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Maxun has 18,134 stars, 1,564 forks, 105 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. dots leads on adoption by 78% (32,357 vs 18,134 stars). dots is written in TypeScript under MIT; Maxun is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. dots has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, Maxun 9%. dots was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (automation, 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
| dots | Maxun | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 18K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.7K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick dots if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Maxun if
- You want the Maxun 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 Maxun fits your workflow better
About dots
dots Every AI agent is a model and a browser. You can swap the model with one flag. The browser is what the website sees. Windows, in PowerShell: Linux: Then open The conversation on the left, the browser on the right, live. It all comes down to the browser When a web agent fails, the model is rarely why. The page never loaded, a challenge appeared, the login expired, the click did not land. All of that happens in the browser, before the model gets to think. So dots is built around one: A real Firefox engine, patched in C++. The fingerprint is decided inside the engine, not painted over with JavaScript that a…
About Maxun
Maxun Turn Any Website Into A Structured API ✨ The unified open source no code platform for real time web scraping, crawling, search and AI data extraction ✨ Go To App • Documentation • Website • Discord • Watch Tutorials Sponsors Webshare Webshare gives you instant access to a proxy pool of 80M+ ethically sourced IPs across 195+ countries, with rotating residential, static ISP, and datacenter options plus a full API. It includes a 100+ Gbps backbone, country/city/state/ZIP/ASN level targeting, and requires no credit card to start. Free tier: 10 proxies + 1GB/month · Discount: MAXUN20 Get 20% off your first…
read the full Maxun overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is dots or Maxun more popular?
dots has 32,357 GitHub stars and Maxun has 18,134. dots has the larger community by that measure.
Are dots and Maxun free?
Both are open source. dots is licensed under MIT and Maxun under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between dots and Maxun?
dots is written in TypeScript and Maxun 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, dots or Maxun?
Choose dots if you want the larger community (32,357 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Maxun if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.