head to head · open source
uBlock vs chrome-remote-interface
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars, 4,427 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. chrome-remote-interface has 4,558 stars, 324 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. uBlock leads on adoption by 1,415% (69,033 vs 4,558 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; chrome-remote-interface is written in JavaScript under MIT. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, chrome-remote-interface 7%. uBlock was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (firefox, 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 | chrome-remote-interface | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 69K | ★ 4.6K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-02-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 324 |
| 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 chrome-remote-interface if
- You want the chrome-remote-interface feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and chrome-remote-interface 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 chrome-remote-interface
chrome remote interface [Chrome Debugging Protocol] interface that helps to instrument Chrome (or any other suitable implementation) by providing a simple abstraction of commands and notifications using a straightforward JavaScript API. Sample API usage The following snippet loads and dumps every request made: Find more examples in the [wiki]. You may also want to take a look at the [FAQ]. [wiki]: [async await example]: [FAQ]: Installation npm install chrome remote interface Install globally ( g ) to just use the bundled client. Implementations This module should work with every application implementing the…
read the full chrome-remote-interface overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or chrome-remote-interface more popular?
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars and chrome-remote-interface has 4,558. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and chrome-remote-interface free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and chrome-remote-interface under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and chrome-remote-interface?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and chrome-remote-interface 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 chrome-remote-interface?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (69,033 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose chrome-remote-interface if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.