head to head · open source
uBlock vs web-ext
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars, 4,427 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. web-ext has 3,152 stars, 392 forks, 223 open issues and last shipped yesterday. uBlock leads on adoption by 2,090% (69,033 vs 3,152 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 | ★ 69K | ★ 3.2K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 392 |
| 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 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
[![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 web-ext
Web ext This is a command line tool to help build, run, and test WebExtensions. Ultimately, it aims to support browser extensions in a standard, portable, cross platform way. Initially, it will provide a streamlined experience for developing Firefox Extensions. Documentation [Getting started with web ext][web ext user docs] Command reference Here are the commands you can run. Click on each one for detailed documentation or use help on the command line, such as web ext build help . run Run the extension lint Validate the extension source sign Sign the extension so it can be installed in Firefox build Create an…
read the full web-ext overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or web-ext more popular?
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars and web-ext has 3,152. 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 (69,033 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.