head to head · open source
Ladybird vs javascript-obfuscator
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars, 3,163 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. javascript-obfuscator has 16,257 stars, 1,741 forks, 24 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. Ladybird leads on adoption by 307% (66,237 vs 16,257 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; javascript-obfuscator is written in TypeScript under BSD-2-Clause. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, javascript-obfuscator 11%. Ladybird 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
| Ladybird | javascript-obfuscator | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 16K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | BSD-2-Clause |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Ladybird if
- You weight community size — 66K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick javascript-obfuscator if
- You want the javascript-obfuscator feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and javascript-obfuscator fits your workflow better
About Ladybird
Ladybird is a truly independent web browser and browser engine, written from scratch in C++ rather than as a fork of any existing engine, and it is built for developers who want to work on a browser engine based on web standards while it remains in a pre alpha state.
read the full Ladybird overview →
About javascript-obfuscator
JavaScript Obfuscator is a free, BSD 2 Clause licensed TypeScript obfuscator for JavaScript and Node.js source code, built for developers who need to ship browser or server side JavaScript that is hard to read, tamper with, or reverse engineer.
read the full javascript-obfuscator overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or javascript-obfuscator more popular?
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars and javascript-obfuscator has 16,257. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and javascript-obfuscator free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and javascript-obfuscator under BSD-2-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and javascript-obfuscator?
Ladybird is written in C++ and javascript-obfuscator 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, Ladybird or javascript-obfuscator?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,237 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose javascript-obfuscator if its feature set, stack or BSD-2-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.