head to head · open source
webtorrent vs feathers
webtorrent has 31,465 GitHub stars, 2,852 forks, 83 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. feathers has 15,256 stars, 802 forks, 121 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. webtorrent leads on adoption by 106% (31,465 vs 15,256 stars). webtorrent is written in JavaScript under MIT; feathers is written in TypeScript under MIT. webtorrent has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, feathers 5%. feathers was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (browser, javascript, nodejs), 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 | feathers | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 15K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-31 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 802 |
| 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 feathers if
- You want the feathers feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and feathers 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 feathers
Feathers is a full stack framework for creating web APIs and real time applications with TypeScript or JavaScript. Feathers can interact with any backend technology, supports many databases out of the box and works with any frontend like React, VueJS, Angular, React Native, Android or iOS. Getting started Get started with just three commands: To learn more about Feathers visit the website at feathersjs.com or jump right into the Feathers guides. Contributing To start developing, clone this repository, then run: To run all tests run Individual tests can be run in the module you are working on: License Copyright…
read the full feathers overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webtorrent or feathers more popular?
webtorrent has 31,465 GitHub stars and feathers has 15,256. webtorrent has the larger community by that measure.
Are webtorrent and feathers free?
Both are open source. webtorrent is licensed under MIT and feathers under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webtorrent and feathers?
webtorrent is written in JavaScript and feathers 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, webtorrent or feathers?
Choose webtorrent if you want the larger community (31,465 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose feathers if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.