head to head · open source
refined-github vs auto-tab-discard
refined-github has 32,187 GitHub stars, 1,914 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. auto-tab-discard has 1,207 stars, 107 forks, 189 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. refined-github leads on adoption by 2,567% (32,187 vs 1,207 stars). refined-github is written in TypeScript under MIT; auto-tab-discard is written in JavaScript under MPL-2.0. refined-github has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, auto-tab-discard 9%. refined-github was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (browser-extension, chrome-extension, firefox-addon), 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
| refined-github | auto-tab-discard | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-05 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 107 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick refined-github 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 auto-tab-discard if
- You want the auto-tab-discard 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 auto-tab-discard fits your workflow better
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 →
About auto-tab-discard
Auto Tab Discard is a browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera that uses the native chrome.tabs.discard API to automatically free memory held by inactive tabs.
read the full auto-tab-discard overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is refined-github or auto-tab-discard more popular?
refined-github has 32,187 GitHub stars and auto-tab-discard has 1,207. refined-github has the larger community by that measure.
Are refined-github and auto-tab-discard free?
Both are open source. refined-github is licensed under MIT and auto-tab-discard under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between refined-github and auto-tab-discard?
refined-github is written in TypeScript and auto-tab-discard 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, refined-github or auto-tab-discard?
Choose refined-github if you want the larger community (32,187 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose auto-tab-discard if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.