head to head · open source
monaco-editor vs web-ext
monaco-editor has 46,758 GitHub stars, 4,128 forks, 859 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. web-ext has 3,138 stars, 385 forks, 223 open issues and last shipped yesterday. monaco-editor leads on adoption by 1,390% (46,758 vs 3,138 stars). monaco-editor is written in JavaScript under MIT; web-ext is written in JavaScript under MPL-2.0. monaco-editor has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, web-ext 12%. web-ext 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 | web-ext | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.1K | ⑂ 385 |
| 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 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 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 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 monaco-editor or web-ext more popular?
monaco-editor has 46,758 GitHub stars and web-ext has 3,138. monaco-editor has the larger community by that measure.
Are monaco-editor and web-ext free?
Both are open source. monaco-editor is licensed under MIT and web-ext under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between monaco-editor and web-ext?
monaco-editor is written in JavaScript 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, monaco-editor or web-ext?
Choose monaco-editor if you want the larger community (46,758 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose web-ext if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.