head to head · open source
serenity vs refined-github
serenity has 33,938 GitHub stars, 3,488 forks, 739 open issues and last shipped yesterday. refined-github has 32,427 stars, 1,934 forks, 80 open issues and last shipped yesterday. serenity leads on adoption by 5% (33,938 vs 32,427 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%. 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
| serenity | refined-github | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 34K | ★ 32K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| 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 Graphical Unix like operating system for 64 bit x86, Arm, and RISC V computers. FAQ Documentation Build Instructions About SerenityOS is a love letter to '90s user interfaces with a custom Unix like core. It flatters with sincerity by stealing beautiful ideas from various other systems. Roughly speaking, the goal is a marriage between the aesthetic of late 1990s productivity software and the power user accessibility of late 2000s \ nix. This is a system by us, for us, based on the things we like. You can watch videos of the system being developed on YouTube: Andreas Kling's channel Linus Groh's…
read the full serenity 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 serenity or refined-github more popular?
serenity has 33,938 GitHub stars and refined-github has 32,427. 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 (33,938 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.