head to head · open source
uBlock vs xdm
uBlock has 68,684 GitHub stars, 4,391 forks, 15 open issues and last shipped yesterday. xdm has 8,025 stars, 1,196 forks, 865 open issues and last shipped yesterday. uBlock leads on adoption by 756% (68,684 vs 8,025 stars). uBlock is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; xdm is written in Kotlin under GPL-3.0. uBlock has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, xdm 15%. 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, firefox), 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 | xdm | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 69K | ★ 8.0K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-10-19 | 2026-10-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| 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 xdm if
- You want the xdm feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and xdm 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 xdm
Xtreme Download Manager Fast, resumable downloads and one click video grabbing — right from your browser. Homepage · Download · Features · Browser integration · Build · Translations · Code signing policy Xtreme Download Manager (XDM) speeds up downloads by splitting them across multiple connections, saves videos from streaming sites, and picks up broken downloads exactly where they left off. A companion browser extension hands downloads and detected videos straight to the app, so you never have to copy a link by hand. Wondering why you'd still want a download manager on a fast connection? Read Why use a download…
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Frequently asked questions
Is uBlock or xdm more popular?
uBlock has 68,684 GitHub stars and xdm has 8,025. uBlock has the larger community by that measure.
Are uBlock and xdm free?
Both are open source. uBlock is licensed under GPL-3.0 and xdm under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uBlock and xdm?
uBlock is written in JavaScript and xdm in Kotlin. 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 xdm?
Choose uBlock if you want the larger community (68,684 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose xdm if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.