head to head · open source
CloakBrowser vs lux
CloakBrowser has 32,693 GitHub stars, 2,719 forks, 164 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lux has 31,818 stars, 3,329 forks, 545 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. CloakBrowser leads on adoption by 3% (32,693 vs 31,818 stars). CloakBrowser is written in Python under MIT; lux is written in Go under MIT. CloakBrowser has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, lux 10%. CloakBrowser 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
| CloakBrowser | lux | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 33K | ★ 32K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-01 | 2026-03-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.7K | ⑂ 3.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick CloakBrowser if
- You weight community size — 33K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick lux if
- You want the lux feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and lux fits your workflow better
About CloakBrowser
Stealth Chromium that passes every bot detection test. Not a patched config. Not a JS injection. A real Chromium binary with fingerprints modified at the C++ source level. Antibot systems score it as a normal browser — because it is a normal browser. Cloudflare Turnstile — 3 live tests passing (headed mode, macOS) Drop in Playwright/Puppeteer replacement for Python and JavaScript. Same API, same code — just swap the import. 3 lines of code, 30 seconds to unblock. 87 source level C++ patches — canvas, WebGL, audio, fonts, GPU, screen, WebRTC, network timing, automation signals, CDP input behavior humanize=True —…
read the full CloakBrowser overview →
About lux
Lux Let there be Lux! 👾 Lux is a fast and simple video downloader built with Go. Installation Prerequisites Install via go install Homebrew (macOS only) Arch Linux Void Linux Scoop on Windows Chocolatey on Windows Cask on Windows/macOS/Linux Getting Started Download a video Download anything else Download playlist Multiple inputs Resume a download Auto retry Cookies Proxy Multi Thread Short link bilibili Use specified Referrer Specify the output path and name Debug Mode Reuse extracted data Options Download: Network: Playlist: Filesystem: Subtitle: Youku: aria2: Supported Sites Known issues 优酷 西瓜/头条视频…
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Frequently asked questions
Is CloakBrowser or lux more popular?
CloakBrowser has 32,693 GitHub stars and lux has 31,818. CloakBrowser has the larger community by that measure.
Are CloakBrowser and lux free?
Both are open source. CloakBrowser is licensed under MIT and lux under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between CloakBrowser and lux?
CloakBrowser is written in Python and lux in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, CloakBrowser or lux?
Choose CloakBrowser if you want the larger community (32,693 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose lux if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.