head to head · open source
slate vs javascript-obfuscator
slate has 31,748 GitHub stars, 3,302 forks, 653 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. javascript-obfuscator has 16,257 stars, 1,741 forks, 24 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. slate leads on adoption by 95% (31,748 vs 16,257 stars). slate is written in TypeScript under MIT; javascript-obfuscator is written in TypeScript under BSD-2-Clause. slate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, javascript-obfuscator 11%. slate 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| slate | javascript-obfuscator | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 16K |
| License | MIT | BSD-2-Clause |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick slate if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- 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 slate
Slate is a completely customizable framework for building rich text editors, written in TypeScript and released under the MIT licence, for JavaScript and React developers who need an editor that goes well past what a fixed schema can offer.
read the full slate 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 →
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 slate or javascript-obfuscator more popular?
slate has 31,748 GitHub stars and javascript-obfuscator has 16,257. slate has the larger community by that measure.
Are slate and javascript-obfuscator free?
Both are open source. slate is licensed under MIT and javascript-obfuscator under BSD-2-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between slate and javascript-obfuscator?
slate is written in TypeScript 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, slate or javascript-obfuscator?
Choose slate if you want the larger community (31,748 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose javascript-obfuscator if its feature set, stack or BSD-2-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.