head to head · open source
Ladybird vs web-ext
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars, 3,163 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. web-ext has 3,138 stars, 385 forks, 223 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Ladybird leads on adoption by 2,011% (66,237 vs 3,138 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; web-ext is written in JavaScript under MPL-2.0. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, web-ext 12%. 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 | web-ext | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 385 |
| 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 web-ext if
- You want the web-ext feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and web-ext 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 web-ext
web ext is a command line tool for building, running, and testing WebExtensions. It lives in the JavaScript and npm ecosystem, and it targets browser add ons that use the WebExtensions API. The project is licensed under MPL 2.0 and is distributed through npm, with an unofficial Homebrew formula maintained by the community. It provides one command line interface for common extension development tasks.
read the full web-ext overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or web-ext more popular?
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars and web-ext has 3,138. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and web-ext free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and web-ext under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and web-ext?
Ladybird is written in C++ and web-ext in JavaScript. 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 web-ext?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,237 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose web-ext if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.