head to head · open source
monaco-editor vs refined-github
monaco-editor has 46,944 GitHub stars, 4,167 forks, 859 open issues and last shipped yesterday. refined-github has 32,427 stars, 1,934 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. monaco-editor leads on adoption by 45% (46,944 vs 32,427 stars). monaco-editor is written in JavaScript under MIT; refined-github is written in TypeScript under MIT. monaco-editor has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, refined-github 6%. 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
| monaco-editor | refined-github | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 32K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick monaco-editor if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick refined-github if
- You want the refined-github feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and refined-github fits your workflow better
About monaco-editor
Monaco Editor The Monaco Editor is the fully featured code editor from VS Code. Check out the VS Code docs to see some of the supported features. Try it out Try out the editor and see various examples in our interactive playground. The playground is the best way to learn about how to use the editor, which features is supports, to try out different versions and to create minimal reproducible examples for bug reports. Installing You will get: inside /esm : ESM version of the editor (compatible with e.g. webpack) monaco.d.ts : this specifies the API of the editor (this is what is actually versioned, everything else…
read the full monaco-editor overview →
About refined-github
Refined GitHub Browser extension that simplifies the GitHub interface and adds useful features We use GitHub a lot and notice many annoyances we'd like to fix. So here be dragons. Our hope is that GitHub will notice and implement some of these much needed improvements. So if you like any of these improvements, please open a discussion on GitHub feedback or contact GitHub support about doing it. GitHub Enterprise is also supported: How to enable it. The GITHUB and REFINED GITHUB trademarks are owned by GitHub, Inc. and used under license. Install [link chrome]: 'Version published on Chrome Web Store' [link…
read the full refined-github overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is monaco-editor or refined-github more popular?
monaco-editor has 46,944 GitHub stars and refined-github has 32,427. monaco-editor has the larger community by that measure.
Are monaco-editor and refined-github free?
Both are open source. monaco-editor is licensed under MIT and refined-github under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between monaco-editor and refined-github?
monaco-editor is written in JavaScript and refined-github 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, monaco-editor or refined-github?
Choose monaco-editor if you want the larger community (46,944 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose refined-github if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.