webextension-polyfill VS Ka-Block

Compare webextension-polyfill vs Ka-Block and see what are their differences.

webextension-polyfill

A lightweight polyfill library for Promise-based WebExtension APIs in Chrome (by mozilla)

Ka-Block

A Safari extension that blocks an artisanal selection of advertising domains. (by dgraham)
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webextension-polyfill Ka-Block
18 7
2,535 856
1.9% -
4.7 0.0
1 day ago about 1 year ago
JavaScript Swift
Mozilla Public License 2.0 MIT License
The number of mentions indicates the total number of mentions that we've tracked plus the number of user suggested alternatives.
Stars - the number of stars that a project has on GitHub. Growth - month over month growth in stars.
Activity is a relative number indicating how actively a project is being developed. Recent commits have higher weight than older ones.
For example, an activity of 9.0 indicates that a project is amongst the top 10% of the most actively developed projects that we are tracking.

webextension-polyfill

Posts with mentions or reviews of webextension-polyfill. We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives and similar projects. The last one was on 2023-12-19.
  • Show HN: Chrome Reaper
    4 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 19 Dec 2023
    Porting this extension to Firefox should be relatively straightforward using the webextension polyfill: https://github.com/mozilla/webextension-polyfill
  • Show HN: OpenAPI DevTools – Chrome ext. that generates an API spec as you browse
    17 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 25 Oct 2023
    Firefox maintain a library for unified extension API https://github.com/mozilla/webextension-polyfill

    Their type definition for HAR request isn't exported https://github.com/DefinitelyTyped/DefinitelyTyped/blob/mast...

  • can you convert a simple firefox addon to be used with chrome?
    1 project | /r/chrome_extensions | 31 Oct 2022
    best is to use https://github.com/mozilla/webextension-polyfill
  • Browser Extension with Blazor WASM - Cross-Browser Compatibility
    2 projects | dev.to | 5 Sep 2022
    The Browser Extension Working Group at W3.org proposes the web standards based on the Chrome extension manifest, which supports all web browsers. Based on that proposal, Mozilla has released the Browser Extension Polyfill library that supports the modern promise pattern instead of callback. Therefore, if you import this polyfill library, theoretically, your Chrome extension quickly turns into the browser extension that runs on multiple browser engines.
  • IWTL how to make simple chrome extensions.
    1 project | /r/IWantToLearn | 2 Aug 2022
    And the biggest tip that i received late. Use Typescript type by Mozilla to make your development much easier(autocomplete, inline docs etc): https://github.com/mozilla/webextension-polyfill
  • Show HN: Plasmo – a framework for building modern Chrome extensions
    8 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 3 Jun 2022
  • It’s Like GPT-3 but for Code–Fun, Fast, and Full of Flaws
    5 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 19 Mar 2022
    I've written extensions before and Firefox has a very good polyfill [0] that makes it quite easy to write extensions for all browsers. It does get a bit trickier if you also want to incorporate TypeScript [1] or React however.

    [0] https://github.com/mozilla/webextension-polyfill

    [1] https://github.com/Lusito/webextension-polyfill-ts

  • Ask HN: Browser-extension creators, how do you write for multiple browsers?
    6 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 12 Feb 2022
    I used WebExtension polyfill[0] when adapting my FF addon to Chrome and admittedly all the intricate differences between APIs still costed me half a day of work.

    I managed to have it done with only a few places where I branch on navigator.vendor, but If I wanted to ship different versions to AMO and CWS, I'd make use of something like DefinePlugin[1] for webpack to include/exclude code based on build target.

    [0] https://github.com/mozilla/webextension-polyfill/

    [1] https://github.com/webpack/docs/wiki/list-of-plugins#definep...

  • Creating a browser extension for Safari and Chrome
    5 projects | dev.to | 19 Jan 2022
    Initially I created wrapper functions to convert Chrome functions that require callback to return promise instead. The better approach, as I found out later, is probably to use webextension-polyfill from Mozilla and its types.
  • Firefox Addons Unable to Update, Undisclosed AMO Issues
    2 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 25 Sep 2021
    I mean, the browser apis are close (and Mozilla still has much better documentation) but there are a LOT of edges cases where behavior diverges.

    Frankly - I'm a little peeved that Optional permissions in Firefox are STILL broken - The prompt can only be triggered in response to a user action, and Firefox blows the fuck up if you put a promise anywhere in between the user click and the call to the api. Which is hugely ironic, since Mozilla is the one pushing to move all the webext APIs to be promise based (and provides a nice helpful library for Chrome/Edge/Safari support: https://github.com/mozilla/webextension-polyfill) which... doesn't work on their platform. Doubly ironic, since the result is that most FF extensions just ask for more permissions up front, which is exactly the opposite of what you'd want in the "secure/private" world Mozilla claims they're pushing towards.

Ka-Block

Posts with mentions or reviews of Ka-Block. We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives and similar projects. The last one was on 2022-02-12.
  • Ask HN: Browser-extension creators, how do you write for multiple browsers?
    6 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 12 Feb 2022
    > Chrome without uBlock (or any browser really) is unusable.

    I use a recent version of Safari and uBlock origin doesn't work there.

    Instead I use Ka-Block![1], which blocks popular ad serving domains. For other annoyances like newsletter popups, etc., I rely on the "Kill sticky headers" script[2], with some custom hacks; I'll try to post my version of that script sometime soon.

    It works good enough for my needs. I also have Firefox with uBlock installed, I end up still using Safari.

    [1]: http://kablock.com , https://github.com/dgraham/Ka-Block

    [2]: https://alisdair.mcdiarmid.org/kill-sticky-headers/

  • Best free iOS ad-blocker now that 1BlockerX costs money?
    2 projects | /r/privacy | 22 Dec 2021
    I use Ka-Block! It’s completely free and works super well!
  • Safari opens up new window telling me to install 'flash player' because my flash player is out of date.
    3 projects | /r/applehelp | 28 Mar 2021
    For blocking different kinds of internet junk, I use Ka-Block!, Hush and NextDNS. I see no scams like that and very little ads.
  • Is this legit, or a spam?
    1 project | /r/applehelp | 15 Mar 2021
    I’d suggest you use NextDNS, Ka-Block! and Hush on all your devices to block not only these scams, but also trackers, ads, annoying cookie notices and other internet junk.
  • I may have been hacked
    1 project | /r/techsupport | 12 Mar 2021
    You haven’t been hacked. It sounds like a scammy ad. I suggest NextDNS, Ka-Block! and Hush for blocking these and other internet junk (I’ve been using all three myself for a long time).
  • Malware
    1 project | /r/iphonehelp | 25 Feb 2021
    You don’t have a virus. This pop-up was a scammy ad. I use NextDNS, Ka-Block! and Hush to block these and other internet junk. I’d suggest you to try them out. It costs you nothing and you can regain some sanity, privacy, security, internet bandwidth, computing speed and battery life by not loading all the scams, phishing attempts, trackers, ads, cookie notices and general junk the modern internet is unfortunately full of.
  • Best Working Ad Blocker for Safari in 2021?
    1 project | /r/Safari | 12 Feb 2021
    No love for Ka-Block?... :/ Available for macOS and iOS. And it's open-source. It's great! :)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing webextension-polyfill and Ka-Block you can also consider the following projects:

esbuild-react-chrome-extension - Simple chrome extension with React and Typescript, bundled by esbuild

hush - 🤫 Noiseless Browsing – Content Blocker for Safari

browser-extension-svelte - A simple cross-browser extension made with Svelte

session-buddy - An ultra-light Safari extension helps you save open tabs as collections that can be easily restored later

uBlock-Safari - uBlock Origin - An efficient blocker for Chromium, Firefox, and Safari. Fast and lean.

iOSAdblockList - Ultimate Host List for Mobile Adblockers (Focused on iOS)

plasmo - 🧩 The Browser Extension Framework

Polyglot - 🌏 The missing Safari extension that translates selected text into your native language.

browser-ext-react-esbuild - Browser extension implemented in TypeScript & React and built by esbuild for Chrome, Safari and possibly Mozilla Firefox

webextensions-examples - Example Firefox add-ons created using the WebExtensions API

webext-redux - A set of utilities for building Redux applications in Web Extensions.

redditweaks - A Safari App Extension to help make Reddit suck just a little less on Safari 13+. Written (mostly) in SwiftUI.