head to head · open source
webtorrent vs chromium
webtorrent has 31,397 GitHub stars, 2,902 forks, 83 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. chromium has 24,799 stars, 9,244 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped yesterday. webtorrent leads on adoption by 27% (31,397 vs 24,799 stars). webtorrent is written in JavaScript under MIT; chromium is written in various languages under BSD-3-Clause. webtorrent has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, chromium 37%. chromium 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 | chromium | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 25K |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | JavaScript | — |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 9.2K |
| 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 chromium if
- You want the chromium feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- You evaluated both and chromium 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 chromium
The official GitHub mirror of the Chromium source — read only snapshot of the codebase behind the Chromium open source browser project, aimed at developers and packagers who need to read, build, or audit browser source rather than end users looking for a browser download.
read the full chromium overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is webtorrent or chromium more popular?
webtorrent has 31,397 GitHub stars and chromium has 24,799. webtorrent has the larger community by that measure.
Are webtorrent and chromium free?
Both are open source. webtorrent is licensed under MIT and chromium under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between webtorrent and chromium?
webtorrent is written in JavaScript and chromium in various languages. 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 chromium?
Choose webtorrent if you want the larger community (31,397 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose chromium if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.