head to head · open source
Ladybird vs BrowserOS
Ladybird has 66,797 GitHub stars, 3,193 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. BrowserOS has 14,225 stars, 1,525 forks, 82 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ladybird leads on adoption by 370% (66,797 vs 14,225 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; BrowserOS is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, BrowserOS 11%. BrowserOS 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 | BrowserOS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 67K | ★ 14K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Ladybird if
- You weight community size — 67K 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 BrowserOS if
- You want the BrowserOS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and BrowserOS fits your workflow better
About Ladybird
Ladybird Ladybird is a truly independent web browser, using a novel engine based on web standards. [!IMPORTANT] Ladybird is in a pre alpha state, and only suitable for use by developers Features We aim to build a complete, usable browser for the modern web. Ladybird uses a multi process architecture with a main UI process, several WebContent renderer processes, an ImageDecoder process, and a RequestServer process. Image decoding and network connections are done out of process to be more robust against malicious content. Each tab has its own renderer process, which is sandboxed from the rest of the system. At the…
read the full Ladybird overview →
About BrowserOS
Website · Docs · Enterprise Free · Open source · Everything runs on your machine A second browser, just for your AI agents. Import your logins from Chrome in one click, connect Claude Code, Codex, or any MCP agent, and hand off your web tasks. Agents run in parallel in their own tabs. You watch live, or replay any session like a video. BrowserOS neo is not a Chrome replacement. It is a secondary browser that sits next to Chrome, made friendly to agents. Get started 1. Install BrowserOS neo Prefer a direct download? Grab it for macOS or Windows. 2. Import from Chrome One click brings over your logins, bookmarks…
read the full BrowserOS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or BrowserOS more popular?
Ladybird has 66,797 GitHub stars and BrowserOS has 14,225. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and BrowserOS free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and BrowserOS under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and BrowserOS?
Ladybird is written in C++ and BrowserOS 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 BrowserOS?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,797 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose BrowserOS if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.