head to head · open source
serenity vs refined-github
serenity has 33,840 GitHub stars, 3,541 forks, 739 open issues and last shipped yesterday. refined-github has 32,177 stars, 1,910 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. serenity leads on adoption by 5% (33,840 vs 32,177 stars). serenity is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; refined-github is written in TypeScript under MIT. serenity has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, refined-github 6%. serenity 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
| serenity | refined-github | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 34K | ★ 32K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.5K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick serenity if
- You weight community size — 34K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- 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 serenity
SerenityOS is a graphical Unix like operating system built for 64 bit x86, Arm, and RISC V computers. It is written in C++ and released under the BSD 2 Clause license, and it lives in the open source operating system ecosystem alongside other hobbyist and research kernels. The project describes itself as a love letter to 1990s user interfaces paired with a custom Unix like core, aiming for a marriage between the aesthetic of late 1990s productivity software and the power user accessibility of late 2000s Unix systems.
read the full serenity overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is serenity or refined-github more popular?
serenity has 33,840 GitHub stars and refined-github has 32,177. serenity has the larger community by that measure.
Are serenity and refined-github free?
Both are open source. serenity is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and refined-github under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between serenity and refined-github?
serenity is written in C++ 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, serenity or refined-github?
Choose serenity if you want the larger community (33,840 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose refined-github if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.