head to head · open source
uBlock vs nanobrowser
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars, 4,427 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nanobrowser has 14,222 stars, 1,521 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 10 days ago. uBlock leads on adoption by 385% (69,033 vs 14,222 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; nanobrowser is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, nanobrowser 11%. uBlock was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | nanobrowser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 69K | ★ 14K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 nanobrowser if
- You want the nanobrowser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and nanobrowser 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 nanobrowser
🌐 Nanobrowser Nanobrowser is an open source AI web automation tool that runs in your browser. A free alternative to OpenAI Operator with flexible LLM options and multi agent system. ⬇️ Get Nanobrowser from Chrome Web Store for free 👏 Join the community in Discord X 🌟 Loving Nanobrowser? Give us a star and help spread the word! ❤️ Support the project by sponsoring us every contribution helps keep Nanobrowser free and open source! Nanobrowser's multi agent system analyzing HuggingFace in real time, with the Planner intelligently self correcting when encountering obstacles and dynamically instructing the…
read the full nanobrowser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or nanobrowser more popular?
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars and nanobrowser has 14,222. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and nanobrowser free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and nanobrowser under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and nanobrowser?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and nanobrowser 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 nanobrowser?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (69,033 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose nanobrowser if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.