head to head · open source
Ladybird vs nanobrowser
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars, 3,163 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nanobrowser has 13,809 stars, 1,456 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Ladybird leads on adoption by 380% (66,237 vs 13,809 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; nanobrowser is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, nanobrowser 11%. 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 | nanobrowser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 14K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 nanobrowser if
- You want the nanobrowser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and nanobrowser 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 nanobrowser
Nanobrowser is an open source Chrome extension for AI powered web automation that runs multi agent workflows inside your own browser using your own LLM API key, built for people who want Operator style browser agents without a subscription.
read the full nanobrowser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or nanobrowser more popular?
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars and nanobrowser has 13,809. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and nanobrowser free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and nanobrowser under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and nanobrowser?
Ladybird is written in C++ and nanobrowser 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 nanobrowser?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,237 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose nanobrowser if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.