head to head · open source
Helium vs Thorium-Win
Helium has 20,799 GitHub stars, 587 forks, 490 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Thorium-Win has 2,533 stars, 54 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped 28 days ago. Helium leads on adoption by 721% (20,799 vs 2,533 stars). Helium is written in C++ under GPL-3.0; Thorium-Win is written in Batchfile under BSD-3-Clause. Helium has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, Thorium-Win 2%. Helium was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (chromium, web-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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Helium | Thorium-Win | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | C++ | Batchfile |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 587 | ⑂ 54 |
| 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 Thorium-Win if
- You want the Thorium-Win feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Batchfile
- You evaluated both and Thorium-Win 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 Thorium-Win
Thorium Win is the Windows build repository for Thorium, a Chromium fork named after radioactive element No. 90. It lives in the Chromium browser ecosystem and provides Windows binaries built from the latest stable Chromium source. The repository is part of a broader Thorium project whose main repository hosts source code for all platforms and serves Linux builds.
read the full Thorium-Win overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Browsers & Extensions projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Browsers & Extensions field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Helium or Thorium-Win more popular?
Helium has 20,799 GitHub stars and Thorium-Win has 2,533. Helium has the larger community by that measure.
Are Helium and Thorium-Win free?
Both are open source. Helium is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Thorium-Win under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Helium and Thorium-Win?
Helium is written in C++ and Thorium-Win in Batchfile. 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 Thorium-Win?
Choose Helium if you want the larger community (20,799 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Thorium-Win if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.