head to head · open source
Ladybird vs emacs-application-framework
Ladybird has 66,240 GitHub stars, 3,162 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. emacs-application-framework has 3,489 stars, 245 forks, 21 open issues and last shipped 27 days ago. Ladybird leads on adoption by 1,799% (66,240 vs 3,489 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; emacs-application-framework is written in Python under GPL-3.0. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, emacs-application-framework 7%. 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 | emacs-application-framework | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 3.5K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-23 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 245 |
| 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 emacs-application-framework if
- You want the emacs-application-framework feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and emacs-application-framework 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 emacs-application-framework
Emacs Application Framework (EAF) is a free/libre, open source framework that extends the graphical capabilities of Emacs, built for hackers who work with numerous languages and text, are keyboard driven, and want maximum freedom, extensibility, and introspectivity over their tools — potentially to the point of living in Emacs.
read the full emacs-application-framework overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or emacs-application-framework more popular?
Ladybird has 66,240 GitHub stars and emacs-application-framework has 3,489. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and emacs-application-framework free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and emacs-application-framework under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and emacs-application-framework?
Ladybird is written in C++ and emacs-application-framework in Python. 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 emacs-application-framework?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,240 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose emacs-application-framework if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.