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Browser Extensions · head to head

FireMonkey vs Sakai

FireMonkey logo

FireMonkey

Browser Extensions

User scripts and user styles in one Firefox extension

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Sakai logo

Sakai

LMS

Open source learning management system governed by the Apereo Foundation

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: FireMonkey firefox only, and requires a recent one: version 93 on desktop, 113 on Android.; Sakai the zero licence fee is misleading: running Sakai needs Java operations, database administration and upgrade testing capacity, and universities that costed only the hardware have ended up paying a hosting partner anyway.
  • They diverge on capability: FireMonkey covers Scripts and styles together, Sakai covers Course sites.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 15 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which FireMonkey and Sakai actually diverge.

Attributes where FireMonkey and Sakai differ
AttributeFireMonkeySakai
Pricing modelopen-sourceOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsFirefoxWeb, Linux, iOS, Android
CategoryBrowser ExtensionsLMS

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in FireMonkey

  • Scripts and styles together
  • Monaco editor with ESLint
  • Unlimited client-side storage
  • Global injection
  • Notifications and clipboard
  • Firefox for Android

Only in Sakai

  • Course sites
  • Tests and Quizzes
  • Gradebook
  • Lessons
  • Assignments
  • Forums and messaging
  • LTI support
  • Self-hosting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

FireMonkey

  • Running user scripts and user styles without two separate extensionsnot Sakai
  • Restyling sites with CSS alongside scripted behaviour changesnot Sakai
  • Editing scripts in a full editor inside the browsernot Sakai
  • Injecting CSS globally across every sitenot Sakai
  • Managing a mixed library of scripts and styles from one dashboardnot Sakai

Sakai

  • A university whose data protection policy or national regulation requires student coursework to stay on institution-controlled infrastructure inside a specific jurisdiction.not FireMonkey
  • An institution that has been repriced twice by a commercial LMS vendor after ownership changes and wants a platform with no owner to sell it.not FireMonkey
  • A university with an existing Java and Tomcat operations team, where the marginal cost of running one more Java application is genuinely low.not FireMonkey
  • A consortium of institutions sharing one deployment and one set of local integrations rather than each paying separate per-student licences.not FireMonkey

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

FireMonkey

  • Firefox only, and requires a recent one: version 93 on desktop, 113 on Android.
  • Not a drop-in replacement for Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey or Stylus. The project says so itself, so an existing library may need adjusting.
  • A much smaller user base than Tampermonkey or Violentmonkey, which means fewer people have hit the bug you are about to hit.
  • No Chrome, Edge or Safari build, so it cannot be the answer for anyone working across browsers.
  • Combining scripts and styles in one extension also combines the blast radius: one extension with permission to inject both into every page.

Sakai

  • The zero licence fee is misleading: running Sakai needs Java operations, database administration and upgrade testing capacity, and universities that costed only the hardware have ended up paying a hosting partner anyway.
  • The third-party teaching tool ecosystem builds and tests for Canvas first, so Sakai adopters do their own LTI integration work and occasionally wait for a vendor to certify against a platform it does not prioritise.
  • Because governance is a foundation of member institutions rather than a company, a feature only gets built if some institution funds an engineer to build it, so roadmap commitments are weaker than a vendor contract provides.
  • The interface, while improved through the version 20 to 25 cycle, still reads as older than Canvas or Brightspace, and academic staff who have used a commercial LMS elsewhere notice it immediately.
  • Adoption is concentrated in specific regions and sectors, so the pool of people who have run Sakai in production is small, making it harder to hire an administrator than for Moodle or Canvas.

Pricing, plan by plan

FireMonkey

Free
  • Open sourceFree
    • MPL-2.0 licensed
    • Unlimited scripts and styles
    • No account required

Sakai

Free
  • SakaiFree
    • Educational Community Licence, no licence fee
    • Full source on GitHub
    • Community support through Apereo lists and Jira
  • Commercial hosting and support$undefined/year
    • Provided by Apereo affiliates such as Longsight
    • Hosting, upgrades, backups and support
    • Quoted per institution, commonly by student headcount

Which should you pick?

Choose FireMonkey if

  • You need scripts and styles together.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Firefox.
  • You also want monaco editor with eslint.
FireMonkey review

Choose Sakai if

  • You need course sites.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want tests and quizzes.
Sakai review

Questions people ask

Is FireMonkey or Sakai better?
Neither clearly leads. FireMonkey starts at Free and Sakai at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, FireMonkey or Sakai?
FireMonkey starts at Free and Sakai at Free.
Does FireMonkey or Sakai run on more platforms?
FireMonkey runs on Firefox. Sakai runs on Web, Linux, iOS, Android.
Can I use FireMonkey for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is FireMonkey best used for?
FireMonkey is most often used for running user scripts and user styles without two separate extensions, restyling sites with css alongside scripted behaviour changes, editing scripts in a full editor inside the browser, injecting css globally across every site. Of those, running user scripts and user styles without two separate extensions and restyling sites with css alongside scripted behaviour changes are not what Sakai is typically brought in for.
What can FireMonkey do that Sakai cannot?
FireMonkey covers Scripts and styles together, Monaco editor with ESLint, Unlimited client-side storage, Global injection. Sakai covers Course sites, Tests and Quizzes, Gradebook, Lessons.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

FireMonkey: What makes FireMonkey different from Violentmonkey?

It manages user styles as well as user scripts. The usual arrangement is a script manager plus a separate style manager such as Stylus; FireMonkey replaces both with one extension.

Source
Sakai: Is Sakai still actively developed?

Yes. Version 25.0 shipped in 2025, 25.1 followed in November 2025, and further maintenance releases in the 25 line are planned, with commits continuing through 2026.

FireMonkey: Which browsers does FireMonkey support?

Firefox only. Desktop requires Firefox 93 or later and Android requires 113, with an API minimum of 102.

Source
Sakai: Who owns Sakai?

No company does. Governance sits with the Apereo Foundation, a membership organisation of institutions, and the code is under the Educational Community Licence.

FireMonkey: Is FireMonkey open source?

Yes, under the MPL-2.0 licence.

Source
Sakai: What does it actually cost to run?

The software is free. The cost is Java hosting and staff, or a commercial hosting agreement with an Apereo affiliate such as Longsight, typically quoted by student headcount.

FireMonkey: Will my existing Tampermonkey scripts work?

Not necessarily. The project states that while it shares functionality with Greasemonkey, Tampermonkey and Stylus, there are differences, so scripts and styles written for those may need adjusting.

Source
Sakai: How does it compare to Moodle?

Moodle has a far larger plugin ecosystem and installed base; Sakai has a cleaner assessment and gradebook model and is more common in research-intensive universities. Moodle is easier to hire for.

FireMonkey: What editor does FireMonkey use?

Current versions use the Monaco editor with ESLint, the same editor component that powers VS Code.

Source
Sakai: Can we migrate off it later?

Yes, but course content export fidelity through Common Cartridge is imperfect, so budget for manual rebuilding of assessments as you would leaving any LMS.

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