head to head · open source
Ladybird vs Lightning-Browser
Ladybird has 66,248 GitHub stars, 3,163 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Lightning-Browser has 2,429 stars, 856 forks, 354 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ladybird leads on adoption by 2,627% (66,248 vs 2,429 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; Lightning-Browser is written in Kotlin under MPL-2.0. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, Lightning-Browser 35%. Lightning-Browser 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 | Lightning-Browser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 856 |
| 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 Lightning-Browser if
- You want the Lightning-Browser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and Lightning-Browser 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 Lightning-Browser
Lightning Browser is a lightweight, open source Android web browser written in Kotlin and Java and released under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, built for Android users who want fast, simple, privacy conscious browsing without a heavyweight browser suite.
read the full Lightning-Browser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or Lightning-Browser more popular?
Ladybird has 66,248 GitHub stars and Lightning-Browser has 2,429. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and Lightning-Browser free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Lightning-Browser under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and Lightning-Browser?
Ladybird is written in C++ and Lightning-Browser in Kotlin. 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 Lightning-Browser?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,248 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose Lightning-Browser if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.