head to head · open source
webtorrent vs fingerprintjs
webtorrent has 31,397 GitHub stars, 2,902 forks, 83 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. fingerprintjs has 28,466 stars, 2,621 forks, 19 open issues and last shipped yesterday. webtorrent leads on adoption by 10% (31,397 vs 28,466 stars). webtorrent is written in JavaScript under MIT; fingerprintjs is written in TypeScript under MIT. webtorrent has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, fingerprintjs 9%. fingerprintjs was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (browser, javascript), 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 | fingerprintjs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 28K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 2.6K |
| 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 fingerprintjs if
- You want the fingerprintjs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and fingerprintjs fits your workflow better
About webtorrent
WebTorrent is a streaming torrent client written entirely in JavaScript, distributed as a single npm package that runs both in node.js and in the browser. In node.js it behaves as an ordinary torrent client, using TCP and UDP to communicate with other clients. In the browser it uses WebRTC data channels for peer to peer transport, which means it works without browser plugins, extensions, or installations. The project lives in the JavaScript and node.js ecosystem, is licensed under MIT, and has been developed for roughly thirteen years.
read the full webtorrent overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webtorrent or fingerprintjs more popular?
webtorrent has 31,397 GitHub stars and fingerprintjs has 28,466. webtorrent has the larger community by that measure.
Are webtorrent and fingerprintjs free?
Both are open source. webtorrent is licensed under MIT and fingerprintjs under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webtorrent and fingerprintjs?
webtorrent is written in JavaScript and fingerprintjs 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 fingerprintjs?
Choose webtorrent if you want the larger community (31,397 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose fingerprintjs if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.