head to head · open source
refined-github vs BrowserOS
refined-github has 32,187 GitHub stars, 1,914 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. BrowserOS has 13,718 stars, 1,459 forks, 82 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. refined-github leads on adoption by 135% (32,187 vs 13,718 stars). refined-github is written in TypeScript under MIT; BrowserOS is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. refined-github has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, BrowserOS 11%. refined-github 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
| refined-github | BrowserOS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 BrowserOS if
- You want the BrowserOS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and BrowserOS 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 BrowserOS
BrowserOS is an open source agentic browser, written in TypeScript under AGPL 3.0, that puts AI agents inside a real Chromium browser on the user's own machine so they can work with real logged in accounts, and it is aimed at people who already use an agent harness such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or any MCP agent and want that agent to handle web tasks instead of a sandbox.
read the full BrowserOS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is refined-github or BrowserOS more popular?
refined-github has 32,187 GitHub stars and BrowserOS has 13,718. refined-github has the larger community by that measure.
Are refined-github and BrowserOS free?
Both are open source. refined-github is licensed under MIT and BrowserOS under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between refined-github and BrowserOS?
refined-github is written in TypeScript and BrowserOS 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, refined-github or BrowserOS?
Choose refined-github if you want the larger community (32,187 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose BrowserOS if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.