head to head · open source
refined-github vs obscura
refined-github has 32,427 GitHub stars, 1,934 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. obscura has 30,141 stars, 2,279 forks, 134 open issues and last shipped yesterday. refined-github leads on adoption by 8% (32,427 vs 30,141 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 8%. 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 | ★ 30K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 2.3K |
| 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 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 →
About obscura
Obscura The open source headless browser for AI agents and web scraping. Lightweight, stealthy, and built in Rust. Native rendering is here. No Chromium required. 🎉 Capture screenshots, screencast live pages, and export PDFs directly with Obscura. Obscura is a headless browser engine written in Rust, built for web scraping and AI agent automation. It runs real JavaScript via V8, supports the Chrome DevTools Protocol, and acts as a drop in replacement for headless Chrome with Puppeteer and Playwright. Why Obscura over headless Chrome? Obscura inspired Cloudflare Kitesurf’s first prototype Cloudflare began by…
read the full obscura overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is refined-github or obscura more popular?
refined-github has 32,427 GitHub stars and obscura has 30,141. 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 (32,427 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose obscura if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.