head to head · open source
Ladybird vs Betterfox
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars, 3,163 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Betterfox has 10,862 stars, 258 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped 11 days ago. Ladybird leads on adoption by 510% (66,237 vs 10,862 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; Betterfox is written in JavaScript under MIT. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Betterfox 2%. Ladybird 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
| Ladybird | Betterfox | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 11K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 258 |
| 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 Betterfox if
- You want the Betterfox feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Betterfox 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 Betterfox
Betterfox is an MIT licensed user.js preference file that makes Mozilla Firefox more private, secure, and fast without adding third party code, and it targets everyday Firefox users who want hardened defaults without site breakage.
read the full Betterfox overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or Betterfox more popular?
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars and Betterfox has 10,862. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and Betterfox free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Betterfox under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and Betterfox?
Ladybird is written in C++ and Betterfox 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, Ladybird or Betterfox?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,237 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose Betterfox if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.