head to head · open source
Ladybird vs Flow
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars, 3,163 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Flow has 1,075 stars, 61 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. Ladybird leads on adoption by 6,062% (66,237 vs 1,075 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; Flow is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Flow 6%. 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 | Flow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 61 |
| 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 Flow if
- You want the Flow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Flow 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 Flow
Flow Browser is a free, GPL 3.0 licensed desktop web browser built on Electron and Chromium, written in TypeScript, that runs Chrome extensions from the Chrome Web Store and is aimed at people who want a minimal, privacy focused alternative to mainstream browsers.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or Flow more popular?
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars and Flow has 1,075. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and Flow free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Flow under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and Flow?
Ladybird is written in C++ and Flow 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 Flow?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,237 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose Flow if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.