head to head · open source
uBlock vs Flow
uBlock has 67,923 GitHub stars, 4,353 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Flow has 1,075 stars, 61 forks, 59 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. uBlock leads on adoption by 6,218% (67,923 vs 1,075 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; Flow is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Flow 6%. uBlock was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (chromium, 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 | Flow | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 68K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-05-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 61 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick uBlock if
- You weight community size — 68K 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 Flow if
- You want the Flow feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Flow fits your workflow better
About uBlock
uBlock Origin is a CPU and memory efficient, wide spectrum content blocker for Chromium and Firefox, aimed at anyone who wants ads, trackers, coin miners, popups, anti blockers and malware sites neutralised by default without hand tuning anything.
read the full uBlock overview →
About Flow
Flow Browser is a free, GPL 3.0 licensed desktop web browser built on Electron and Chromium, written in TypeScript, that runs Chrome extensions from the Chrome Web Store and is aimed at people who want a minimal, privacy focused alternative to mainstream browsers.
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or Flow more popular?
uBlock has 67,923 GitHub stars and Flow has 1,075. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and Flow free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Flow under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and Flow?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and Flow 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, uBlock or Flow?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (67,923 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Flow if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.