head to head · open source
open-design vs waterfox
open-design has 105,526 GitHub stars, 12,030 forks, 1,090 open issues and last shipped yesterday. waterfox has 6,344 stars, 438 forks, 332 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. open-design leads on adoption by 1,563% (105,526 vs 6,344 stars). open-design is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; waterfox is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence. open-design has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, waterfox 7%. open-design 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
| open-design | waterfox | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 106K | ★ 6.3K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 12K | ⑂ 438 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick open-design if
- You weight community size — 106K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick waterfox if
- You want the waterfox feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and waterfox fits your workflow better
About open-design
OpenDesign: The open source Claude Design alternative ⚡ OpenDesign Cloud — the official model service. One recharge to use both agent and image models inside OpenDesign: GPT, Claude, and DeepSeek for agents; GPT Image 2.0, Seedream 5.0 Pro, and Nano Banana 2.0 for images. 🚀 DeepSeek V4 Flash and V4 Pro are now available. Put top tier intelligence to work across prototypes, decks, design systems, and everyday agent tasks. OpenDesign members can use both models without limits for two weeks, directly inside the app. 🧩 DeepSeek Harness is now supported. Connect DeepSeek's official dsh agent harness to OpenDesign…
read the full open-design overview →
About waterfox
Waterfox Waterfox is a customisable browser based on Mozilla Firefox. This repository contains Mozilla platform code, Waterfox product code, branding, features, packaging, and release files. Building Waterfox uses the Mozilla build system. The usual ./mach entry points apply: Contributing Most Firefox development documentation still applies to this tree. Use the Firefox Source Docs for the shared Mozilla build system, testing tools, and platform code. Resources Waterfox website Firefox Source Docs
read the full waterfox overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is open-design or waterfox more popular?
open-design has 105,526 GitHub stars and waterfox has 6,344. open-design has the larger community by that measure.
Are open-design and waterfox free?
Both are open source. open-design is licensed under Apache-2.0, and waterfox has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between open-design and waterfox?
open-design is written in TypeScript and waterfox 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, open-design or waterfox?
Choose open-design if you want the larger community (105,526 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose waterfox if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.