head to head · open source
refined-github vs buster
refined-github has 32,187 GitHub stars, 1,914 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. buster has 9,302 stars, 694 forks, 50 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. refined-github leads on adoption by 246% (32,187 vs 9,302 stars). refined-github is written in TypeScript under MIT; buster is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. refined-github has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, buster 7%. refined-github was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (browser-extension, chrome-extension), 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 | buster | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 9.3K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-06-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 694 |
| 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 buster if
- You want the buster feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and buster 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 buster
Buster is a free, open source browser extension for Chrome, Edge and Firefox that helps people solve difficult CAPTCHA challenges by completing reCAPTCHA audio challenges with speech recognition, and it is intended for ordinary human users rather than automation operators.
read the full buster overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is refined-github or buster more popular?
refined-github has 32,187 GitHub stars and buster has 9,302. refined-github has the larger community by that measure.
Are refined-github and buster free?
Both are open source. refined-github is licensed under MIT and buster under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between refined-github and buster?
refined-github is written in TypeScript and buster 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 buster?
Choose refined-github if you want the larger community (32,187 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose buster if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.