head to head · open source
refined-github vs search-by-image
refined-github has 32,187 GitHub stars, 1,914 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. search-by-image has 3,753 stars, 318 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. refined-github leads on adoption by 758% (32,187 vs 3,753 stars). refined-github is written in TypeScript under MIT; search-by-image is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. refined-github has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, search-by-image 8%. refined-github was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (browser-extension, chrome-extension, safari-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 | search-by-image | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 3.8K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-06-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 318 |
| 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 search-by-image if
- You want the search-by-image 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 search-by-image 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 search-by-image
Search by Image is an open source JavaScript browser extension released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. It lives in the productivity and browser extension ecosystem, where it provides reverse image search from Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox according to the project metadata. The extension addresses a concrete verification problem: users need to determine where an image came from, whether it is duplicated, or whether it is used misleadingly on social media. Instead of copying image URLs or downloading files, users can search with the image directly from the browser.
read the full search-by-image overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is refined-github or search-by-image more popular?
refined-github has 32,187 GitHub stars and search-by-image has 3,753. refined-github has the larger community by that measure.
Are refined-github and search-by-image free?
Both are open source. refined-github is licensed under MIT and search-by-image under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between refined-github and search-by-image?
refined-github is written in TypeScript and search-by-image 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 search-by-image?
Choose refined-github if you want the larger community (32,187 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose search-by-image if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.