head to head · open source
slate vs qutebrowser
slate has 31,748 GitHub stars, 3,302 forks, 653 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. qutebrowser has 11,699 stars, 1,130 forks, 1,335 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. slate leads on adoption by 171% (31,748 vs 11,699 stars). slate is written in TypeScript under MIT; qutebrowser is written in Python under GPL-3.0. slate has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, qutebrowser 10%. qutebrowser 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
| slate | qutebrowser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 32K | ★ 12K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-13 | 2026-09-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.3K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick slate 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 qutebrowser if
- You want the qutebrowser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and qutebrowser fits your workflow better
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 →
About qutebrowser
qutebrowser is a free, GPL 3.0 licensed, keyboard driven browser with a minimal GUI, built on Python and Qt, for people who want vim style keyboard control of the web rather than a mouse.
read the full qutebrowser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is slate or qutebrowser more popular?
slate has 31,748 GitHub stars and qutebrowser has 11,699. slate has the larger community by that measure.
Are slate and qutebrowser free?
Both are open source. slate is licensed under MIT and qutebrowser under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between slate and qutebrowser?
slate is written in TypeScript and qutebrowser in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, slate or qutebrowser?
Choose slate if you want the larger community (31,748 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose qutebrowser if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.