head to head · open source
monaco-editor vs refined-github
monaco-editor has 46,758 GitHub stars, 4,128 forks, 859 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. refined-github has 32,177 stars, 1,910 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. monaco-editor leads on adoption by 45% (46,758 vs 32,177 stars). monaco-editor is written in JavaScript under MIT; refined-github is written in TypeScript under MIT. monaco-editor has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, refined-github 6%. refined-github 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
| monaco-editor | refined-github | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 32K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.1K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick monaco-editor if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick refined-github if
- You want the refined-github feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and refined-github fits your workflow better
About monaco-editor
Monaco Editor is the fully featured code editor from VS Code, packaged as an npm library so that developers can embed the same editing experience inside their own browser based applications.
read the full monaco-editor overview →
About refined-github
Refined GitHub is an MIT licensed browser extension written in TypeScript that simplifies the GitHub interface and adds useful features, built for developers and teams who spend their working day inside GitHub and want the small missing conveniences fixed without waiting for the platform itself to change.
read the full refined-github overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is monaco-editor or refined-github more popular?
monaco-editor has 46,758 GitHub stars and refined-github has 32,177. monaco-editor has the larger community by that measure.
Are monaco-editor and refined-github free?
Both are open source. monaco-editor is licensed under MIT and refined-github under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between monaco-editor and refined-github?
monaco-editor is written in JavaScript and refined-github 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, monaco-editor or refined-github?
Choose monaco-editor if you want the larger community (46,758 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose refined-github if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.