head to head · open source
Helium vs buster
Helium has 20,739 GitHub stars, 579 forks, 490 open issues and last shipped yesterday. buster has 9,302 stars, 694 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Helium leads on adoption by 123% (20,739 vs 9,302 stars). Helium is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; buster is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. Helium has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, buster 7%. Helium was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Helium | buster | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 9.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 579 | ⑂ 694 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Helium if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick buster if
- You want the buster feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and buster fits your workflow better
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 →
About buster
Buster is a free, open source browser extension for Chrome, Edge and Firefox that helps people solve difficult CAPTCHA challenges by completing reCAPTCHA audio challenges with speech recognition, and it is intended for ordinary human users rather than automation operators.
read the full buster overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Helium or buster more popular?
Helium has 20,739 GitHub stars and buster has 9,302. Helium has the larger community by that measure.
Are Helium and buster free?
Both are open source. Helium is licensed under GPL-3.0 and buster under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Helium and buster?
Helium is written in C++ and buster in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Helium or buster?
Choose Helium if you want the larger community (20,739 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose buster if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.