head to head · open source
webtorrent vs BrowserOS
webtorrent has 31,401 GitHub stars, 2,901 forks, 83 open issues and last shipped yesterday. BrowserOS has 13,718 stars, 1,459 forks, 82 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. webtorrent leads on adoption by 129% (31,401 vs 13,718 stars). webtorrent is written in JavaScript under MIT; BrowserOS is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. webtorrent has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, BrowserOS 11%. webtorrent was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (browser), 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
| webtorrent | BrowserOS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 14K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick webtorrent if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick BrowserOS if
- You want the BrowserOS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and BrowserOS fits your workflow better
About webtorrent
WebTorrent is a streaming torrent client written entirely in JavaScript, distributed as a single npm package that runs both in node.js and in the browser. In node.js it behaves as an ordinary torrent client, using TCP and UDP to communicate with other clients. In the browser it uses WebRTC data channels for peer to peer transport, which means it works without browser plugins, extensions, or installations. The project lives in the JavaScript and node.js ecosystem, is licensed under MIT, and has been developed for roughly thirteen years.
read the full webtorrent overview →
About BrowserOS
BrowserOS is an open source agentic browser, written in TypeScript under AGPL 3.0, that puts AI agents inside a real Chromium browser on the user's own machine so they can work with real logged in accounts, and it is aimed at people who already use an agent harness such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or any MCP agent and want that agent to handle web tasks instead of a sandbox.
read the full BrowserOS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webtorrent or BrowserOS more popular?
webtorrent has 31,401 GitHub stars and BrowserOS has 13,718. webtorrent has the larger community by that measure.
Are webtorrent and BrowserOS free?
Both are open source. webtorrent is licensed under MIT and BrowserOS under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webtorrent and BrowserOS?
webtorrent is written in JavaScript and BrowserOS 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, webtorrent or BrowserOS?
Choose webtorrent if you want the larger community (31,401 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose BrowserOS if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.