head to head · open source
servo vs Helium
servo has 38,001 GitHub stars, 3,798 forks, 3,209 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Helium has 20,739 stars, 579 forks, 490 open issues and last shipped yesterday. servo leads on adoption by 83% (38,001 vs 20,739 stars). servo is written in Rust under MPL-2.0; Helium is written in C++ under GPL-3.0. servo has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Helium 3%. servo was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser), 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
| servo | Helium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 21K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Rust | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.8K | ⑂ 579 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick servo if
- You weight community size — 38K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Helium if
- You want the Helium feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and Helium fits your workflow better
About servo
Servo is a prototype web browser engine written in the Rust programming language. It is developed on 64 bit macOS, 64 bit Linux, 64 bit Windows, 64 bit OpenHarmony, and Android, and it lives in the Rust ecosystem as an open source project licensed under MPL 2.0. The repository carries the topics browser, rust, servo, web, webbrowser, webengine, and webplatform, and the project describes itself as aiming to empower developers with a lightweight, high performance alternative for embedding web technologies in applications. Documentation lives in the Servo Book, with news and guides at servo.org.
read the full servo overview →
About Helium
Helium is an open source desktop web browser built around the Chromium project. It lives in the Chromium browser ecosystem and is published as a C++ project under the GPL 3.0 license, with imported code retaining its original license. The project describes itself as private, fast, and honest, and as a privacy first browser with ad blocking and no bloat.
read the full Helium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is servo or Helium more popular?
servo has 38,001 GitHub stars and Helium has 20,739. servo has the larger community by that measure.
Are servo and Helium free?
Both are open source. servo is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Helium under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between servo and Helium?
servo is written in Rust and Helium in C++. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, servo or Helium?
Choose servo if you want the larger community (38,001 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Helium if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.