head to head · open source
uBlock vs Ladybird
uBlock has 67,923 GitHub stars, 4,353 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ladybird has 66,237 stars, 3,163 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. uBlock leads on adoption by 3% (67,923 vs 66,237 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Ladybird 5%. 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
| uBlock | Ladybird | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 68K | ★ 66K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Written in | JavaScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 3.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick uBlock if
- You weight community size — 68K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Ladybird if
- You want the Ladybird feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Ladybird fits your workflow better
About uBlock
uBlock Origin is a CPU and memory efficient, wide spectrum content blocker for Chromium and Firefox, aimed at anyone who wants ads, trackers, coin miners, popups, anti blockers and malware sites neutralised by default without hand tuning anything.
read the full uBlock overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or Ladybird more popular?
uBlock has 67,923 GitHub stars and Ladybird has 66,237. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and Ladybird free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Ladybird under BSD-2-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and Ladybird?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and Ladybird in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, uBlock or Ladybird?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (67,923 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Ladybird if its feature set, stack or BSD-2-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.