head to head · open source
Ladybird vs slate
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars, 3,163 forks, 535 open issues and last shipped yesterday. slate has 31,748 stars, 3,302 forks, 653 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Ladybird leads on adoption by 109% (66,237 vs 31,748 stars). Ladybird is written in C++ under BSD-2-Clause; slate is written in TypeScript under MIT. Ladybird has attracted 5% as many forks as stars, slate 10%. Ladybird 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
| Ladybird | slate | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 66K | ★ 32K |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.2K | ⑂ 3.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Ladybird if
- You weight community size — 66K 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 slate if
- You want the slate feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and slate fits your workflow better
About Ladybird
Ladybird is a truly independent web browser and browser engine, written from scratch in C++ rather than as a fork of any existing engine, and it is built for developers who want to work on a browser engine based on web standards while it remains in a pre alpha state.
read the full Ladybird overview →
About slate
Slate is a completely customizable framework for building rich text editors, written in TypeScript and released under the MIT licence, for JavaScript and React developers who need an editor that goes well past what a fixed schema can offer.
read the full slate overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Ladybird or slate more popular?
Ladybird has 66,237 GitHub stars and slate has 31,748. Ladybird has the larger community by that measure.
Are Ladybird and slate free?
Both are open source. Ladybird is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and slate under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Ladybird and slate?
Ladybird is written in C++ and slate 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, Ladybird or slate?
Choose Ladybird if you want the larger community (66,237 stars) or its BSD-2-Clause licence terms. Choose slate if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.