head to head · open source
Ladybird vs lightning-browser-extension
Ladybird has 66,807 GitHub stars, 3,194 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. lightning-browser-extension has 586 stars, 227 forks, 237 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. Ladybird leads on adoption by 11,301% (66,807 vs 586 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; lightning-browser-extension is written in TypeScript under MIT. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, lightning-browser-extension 39%. Ladybird was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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-extension | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 67K | ★ 586 |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 227 |
| 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 lightning-browser-extension if
- You want the lightning-browser-extension feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and lightning-browser-extension 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 lightning-browser-extension
⚡ Alby Lightning Browser Extension Seamlessly bring Bitcoin's Lightning Network to your browser. The Alby browser extension seamlessly integrates the Bitcoin Lightning Network into websites, enabling both payments and authentication flows. Designed to be a lightweight and efficient web extension, Alby allows browsers to interact with the Lightning Network programmatically. It focuses on web payments rather than advanced node management, ensuring a simple and intuitive user experience. Alby implements the WebLN standard, providing a universal interface for websites to: Connect to Lightning Network nodes Request…
read the full lightning-browser-extension overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or lightning-browser-extension more popular?
Ladybird has 66,807 GitHub stars and lightning-browser-extension has 586. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and lightning-browser-extension free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and lightning-browser-extension under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and lightning-browser-extension?
Ladybird is written in C++ and lightning-browser-extension 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 lightning-browser-extension?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,807 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose lightning-browser-extension if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.