head to head · open source
fingerprintjs vs Helium
fingerprintjs has 28,466 GitHub stars, 2,621 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Helium has 20,739 stars, 579 forks, 490 open issues and last shipped yesterday. fingerprintjs leads on adoption by 37% (28,466 vs 20,739 stars). fingerprintjs is written in TypeScript under MIT; Helium is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. fingerprintjs has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Helium 3%. Helium 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
| fingerprintjs | Helium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 28K | ★ 21K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.6K | ⑂ 579 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick fingerprintjs if
- You weight community size — 28K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Helium if
- You want the Helium feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Helium fits your workflow better
About fingerprintjs
FingerprintJS is an open source, client side browser fingerprinting library that queries browser attributes and computes a hashed visitor identifier from them, aimed at web developers and engineering teams that need to recognise returning browsers without depending on cookies or local storage.
read the full fingerprintjs overview →
About Helium
Helium is an open source desktop web browser built around the Chromium project. It lives in the Chromium browser ecosystem and is published as a C++ project under the GPL 3.0 license, with imported code retaining its original license. The project describes itself as private, fast, and honest, and as a privacy first browser with ad blocking and no bloat.
read the full Helium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is fingerprintjs or Helium more popular?
fingerprintjs has 28,466 GitHub stars and Helium has 20,739. fingerprintjs has the larger community by that measure.
Are fingerprintjs and Helium free?
Both are open source. fingerprintjs is licensed under MIT and Helium under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between fingerprintjs and Helium?
fingerprintjs is written in TypeScript and Helium 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, fingerprintjs or Helium?
Choose fingerprintjs if you want the larger community (28,466 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Helium if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.