head to head · open source
uBlock vs webtorrent
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars, 4,427 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. webtorrent has 31,465 stars, 2,852 forks, 83 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. uBlock leads on adoption by 119% (69,033 vs 31,465 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; webtorrent is written in JavaScript under MIT. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, webtorrent 9%. uBlock was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | webtorrent | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 69K | ★ 31K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 2.9K |
| 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 webtorrent if
- You want the webtorrent feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and webtorrent 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 webtorrent
WebTorrent The streaming torrent client. For node.js and the web. Sponsored by WebTorrent is a streaming torrent client for node.js and the browser . YEP, THAT'S RIGHT. THE BROWSER. It's written completely in JavaScript – the language of the web – so the same code works in both runtimes. In node.js, this module is a simple torrent client, using TCP and UDP to talk to other torrent clients. In the browser, WebTorrent uses WebRTC (data channels) for peer to peer transport. It can be used without browser plugins, extensions, or installations. It's Just JavaScript™. Note: WebTorrent does not support UDP/TCP peers in…
read the full webtorrent overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or webtorrent more popular?
uBlock has 69,033 GitHub stars and webtorrent has 31,465. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and webtorrent free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and webtorrent under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and webtorrent?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and webtorrent 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 webtorrent?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (69,033 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose webtorrent if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.