head to head · open source
Ladybird vs just-the-browser
Ladybird has 66,609 GitHub stars, 3,165 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. just-the-browser has 3,059 stars, 92 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Ladybird leads on adoption by 2,077% (66,609 vs 3,059 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; just-the-browser is written in Shell under MIT. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, just-the-browser 3%. 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 | just-the-browser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 67K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-10-22 | 2026-10-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 92 |
| 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 just-the-browser if
- You want the just-the-browser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and just-the-browser 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 just-the-browser
Just the Browser Just the Browser helps you remove AI features, telemetry data reporting, sponsored content, product integrations, and other annoyances from desktop web browsers. The goal is to give you "just the browser" and nothing else, using hidden settings in web browsers intended for companies and other organizations. This project includes configuration files for popular web browsers, documentation for installing and modifying them, and easy installation scripts. Install script The setup script can install the configuration files in a few clicks. You can also follow the manual guides for Google Chrome…
read the full just-the-browser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or just-the-browser more popular?
Ladybird has 66,609 GitHub stars and just-the-browser has 3,059. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and just-the-browser free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and just-the-browser under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and just-the-browser?
Ladybird is written in C++ and just-the-browser in Shell. 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 just-the-browser?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,609 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose just-the-browser if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.