head to head · open source
uBlock vs web-ext
uBlock has 67,923 GitHub stars, 4,353 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. web-ext has 3,138 stars, 385 forks, 223 open issues and last shipped yesterday. uBlock leads on adoption by 2,065% (67,923 vs 3,138 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; web-ext is written in JavaScript under MPL-2.0. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, web-ext 12%. uBlock was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (browser-extension, 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 | web-ext | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 68K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 385 |
| 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 web-ext if
- You want the web-ext feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and web-ext 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 web-ext
web ext is a command line tool for building, running, and testing WebExtensions. It lives in the JavaScript and npm ecosystem, and it targets browser add ons that use the WebExtensions API. The project is licensed under MPL 2.0 and is distributed through npm, with an unofficial Homebrew formula maintained by the community. It provides one command line interface for common extension development tasks.
read the full web-ext overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or web-ext more popular?
uBlock has 67,923 GitHub stars and web-ext has 3,138. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and web-ext free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and web-ext under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and web-ext?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and web-ext 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 web-ext?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (67,923 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose web-ext if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.