head to head · open source
qutebrowser vs luakit
qutebrowser has 11,737 GitHub stars, 1,141 forks, 1,335 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. luakit has 2,322 stars, 256 forks, 253 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. qutebrowser leads on adoption by 405% (11,737 vs 2,322 stars). qutebrowser is written in Python under GPL-3.0; luakit is written in Lua under GPL-3.0. qutebrowser has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, luakit 11%. qutebrowser 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
| qutebrowser | luakit | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | Lua |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-06-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 256 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick qutebrowser if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick luakit if
- You want the luakit feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Lua
- You evaluated both and luakit fits your workflow better
About qutebrowser
// SPDX License Identifier: GPL 3.0 or later // If you are reading this in plaintext or on PyPi: // // A rendered version is available at: // qutebrowser =========== // QUTE WEB HIDE image:qutebrowser/icons/qutebrowser 64x64.png[qutebrowser logo] A keyboard driven, vim like browser based on Python and Qt. image: Status", link=" image: badge",link=" link: link: link: // QUTE WEB HIDE END qutebrowser is a keyboard focused browser with a minimal GUI. It's based on Python and Qt and free software, licensed under the GPL. It was inspired by other browsers/addons like dwb and Vimperator/Pentadactyl. // QUTE WEB HIDE…
read the full qutebrowser overview →
About luakit
Luakit luakit is a fast, light and simple to use micro browser framework extensible by Lua using the WebKit web content engine and the GTK+ toolkit. Don't Panic! You don't have to be a developer to use luakit on a daily basis. If you are familiar with quitebrowser, vim browser, jumanji or extensions like Vimium or cVim etc, you will find luakit behaves similarly out of the box. Requirements GTK+ 3 Lua 5.1 or LuaJIT 2 lfs (lua file system) webkit2gtk sqlite3 gstreamer (for video playback) lua socket (for gopher support) Installing Luakit is available on most Linux Distributions and BSD system via their package…
read the full luakit overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is qutebrowser or luakit more popular?
qutebrowser has 11,737 GitHub stars and luakit has 2,322. qutebrowser has the larger community by that measure.
Are qutebrowser and luakit free?
Both are open source. qutebrowser is licensed under GPL-3.0 and luakit under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between qutebrowser and luakit?
qutebrowser is written in Python and luakit in Lua. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, qutebrowser or luakit?
Choose qutebrowser if you want the larger community (11,737 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose luakit if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.