head to head · open source
uBlock vs browserify
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars, 4,427 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. browserify has 14,693 stars, 1,202 forks, 387 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. uBlock leads on adoption by 370% (69,033 vs 14,693 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; browserify is written in JavaScript under MIT. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, browserify 8%. uBlock was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (javascript), 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
| uBlock | browserify | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 69K | ★ 15K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick uBlock if
- You weight community size — 69K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick browserify if
- You want the browserify feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and browserify fits your workflow better
About uBlock
[![Badge Commits]][Commit Rate] [![Badge Issues]][Issues] [![Badge Localization]][Crowdin] [![Badge License]][License] [![Badge NPM]][NPM] [![Badge Mozilla]][Mozilla] ![Badge Chrome] [![Badge Edge]][Edge] uBlock Origin (uBO) GitHub Releases Stable and development versions on Firefox, Chromium MV2, and Thunderbird. Must be placed manually into web browsers; the Chromium and Thunderbird versions usually won't auto update. Related: uBlock Origin Lite uBlock Origin (uBO) is a CPU and memory efficient [wide spectrum content blocker][Blocking] for Chromium and Firefox. It blocks ads, trackers, coin miners, popups…
read the full uBlock overview →
About browserify
browserify require('modules') in the browser Use a node style require() to organize your browser code and load modules installed by npm. browserify will recursively analyze all the require() calls in your app in order to build a bundle you can serve up to the browser in a single into your html! install With npm do: usage compatibility Many npm modules that don't do IO will just work after being browserified. Others take more work. Many node built in modules have been wrapped to work in the browser, but only when you explicitly require() or use their functionality. When you require() any of these modules, you…
read the full browserify overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or browserify more popular?
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars and browserify has 14,693. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and browserify free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and browserify under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and browserify?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and browserify in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, uBlock or browserify?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (69,033 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose browserify if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.