head to head · open source
slate vs nanobrowser
slate has 31,748 GitHub stars, 3,302 forks, 653 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. nanobrowser has 13,810 stars, 1,459 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. slate leads on adoption by 130% (31,748 vs 13,810 stars). slate is written in TypeScript under MIT; nanobrowser is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. slate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, nanobrowser 11%. slate was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| slate | nanobrowser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-08-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick slate if
- You weight community size — 32K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick nanobrowser if
- You want the nanobrowser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and nanobrowser fits your workflow better
About slate
Slate is a completely customizable framework for building rich text editors, written in TypeScript and released under the MIT licence, for JavaScript and React developers who need an editor that goes well past what a fixed schema can offer.
read the full slate overview →
About nanobrowser
Nanobrowser is an open source Chrome extension for AI powered web automation that runs multi agent workflows inside your own browser using your own LLM API key, built for people who want Operator style browser agents without a subscription.
read the full nanobrowser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is slate or nanobrowser more popular?
slate has 31,748 GitHub stars and nanobrowser has 13,810. slate has the larger community by that measure.
Are slate and nanobrowser free?
Both are open source. slate is licensed under MIT and nanobrowser under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between slate and nanobrowser?
slate is written in TypeScript and nanobrowser 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, slate or nanobrowser?
Choose slate if you want the larger community (31,748 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose nanobrowser if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.