head to head · open source
uBlock vs nanobrowser
uBlock has 67,923 GitHub stars, 4,353 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nanobrowser has 13,809 stars, 1,456 forks, 81 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. uBlock leads on adoption by 392% (67,923 vs 13,809 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 | ★ 68K | ★ 14K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-08-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 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
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 nanobrowser
Nanobrowser is an open source Chrome extension for AI powered web automation that runs multi agent workflows inside your own browser using your own LLM API key, built for people who want Operator style browser agents without a subscription.
read the full nanobrowser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or nanobrowser more popular?
uBlock has 67,923 GitHub stars and nanobrowser has 13,809. 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 (67,923 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.