head to head · open source
refined-github vs obscura
refined-github has 32,177 GitHub stars, 1,910 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. obscura has 27,331 stars, 2,005 forks, 134 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. refined-github leads on adoption by 18% (32,177 vs 27,331 stars). refined-github is written in TypeScript under MIT; obscura is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. refined-github has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, obscura 7%. 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 | obscura | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 27K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| 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 obscura if
- You want the obscura feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and obscura 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 obscura
Obscura is an open source headless browser engine written in Rust, built for web scraping and AI agent automation. It runs real JavaScript through V8, speaks the Chrome DevTools Protocol, and presents itself as a drop in replacement for headless Chrome when driven by Puppeteer or Playwright. The project lives in the browser automation and headless browser corner of the Rust ecosystem, and it ships under the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full obscura overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is refined-github or obscura more popular?
refined-github has 32,177 GitHub stars and obscura has 27,331. refined-github has the larger community by that measure.
Are refined-github and obscura free?
Both are open source. refined-github is licensed under MIT and obscura under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between refined-github and obscura?
refined-github is written in TypeScript and obscura in Rust. 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 obscura?
Choose refined-github if you want the larger community (32,177 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose obscura if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.