head to head · open source
Ladybird vs hotkeys-js
Ladybird has 66,240 GitHub stars, 3,162 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped today. hotkeys-js has 7,124 stars, 414 forks, 159 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. Ladybird leads on adoption by 830% (66,240 vs 7,124 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; hotkeys-js is written in TypeScript under MIT. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, hotkeys-js 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 | hotkeys-js | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 7.1K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 414 |
| 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 hotkeys-js if
- You want the hotkeys-js feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and hotkeys-js 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 hotkeys-js
hotkeys js is a dependency free JavaScript and TypeScript library for capturing keyboard input and binding keyboard shortcuts in the browser, aimed at web developers who need shortcut handling that does not interfere with any existing JavaScript library or framework.
read the full hotkeys-js overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or hotkeys-js more popular?
Ladybird has 66,240 GitHub stars and hotkeys-js has 7,124. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and hotkeys-js free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and hotkeys-js under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and hotkeys-js?
Ladybird is written in C++ and hotkeys-js 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 hotkeys-js?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,240 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose hotkeys-js if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.