head to head · open source
uBlock vs lightning-browser-extension
uBlock has 67,937 GitHub stars, 4,354 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. lightning-browser-extension has 584 stars, 226 forks, 237 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. uBlock leads on adoption by 11,533% (67,937 vs 584 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; lightning-browser-extension is written in TypeScript under MIT. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, lightning-browser-extension 39%. uBlock was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser-extension), 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.
← all 13541 open source comparisons
Side by side
| uBlock | lightning-browser-extension | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 68K | ★ 584 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 226 |
| 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 lightning-browser-extension if
- You want the lightning-browser-extension feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and lightning-browser-extension 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 lightning-browser-extension
The Alby lightning browser extension is an open source, MIT licensed Bitcoin Lightning browser extension that exposes a WebLN wallet interface to multiple Lightning nodes and acts as a key signer for Nostr, Liquid and onchain use, built for people who want Lightning payments and authentication to happen inside an ordinary web browser.
read the full lightning-browser-extension overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Browsers & Extensions projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Browsers & Extensions field.
Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or lightning-browser-extension more popular?
uBlock has 67,937 GitHub stars and lightning-browser-extension has 584. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and lightning-browser-extension free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and lightning-browser-extension under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and lightning-browser-extension?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and lightning-browser-extension 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 lightning-browser-extension?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (67,937 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose lightning-browser-extension if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.