What is Vimium used for?

Vimium is a browser extension that adds Vim-style keyboard navigation to Chrome, Edge and Firefox, so you can browse without the mouse. It is a good fit for navigating the web keyboard-only and reducing mouse use for repetitive browsing.

Is Vimium open source?

Yes. Vimium is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at philc/vimium and is written mainly in JavaScript.

Yes. Vimium is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Vimium?

Yes. Vimium can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What are some alternatives to Vimium?

Similar open-source tools in the Productivity category include Dark Reader, Stylebot and Organice. SaaS products in the same category include AutoScroll Pro, 1 Pixel Workout and AfterFeed.

Is Vimium actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Vimium was on 25 July 2026. The project has 27k stars on GitHub.

Vimium: open-source productivity

About Vimium

Vimium is a browser extension that provides keyboard-based navigation and control of the web in the spirit of the Vim editor. Instead of reaching for the mouse, you scroll, follow links, switch tabs and search using short key sequences.

Typical bindings include h, j, k and l for scrolling, gg and G to jump to the top or bottom, f to open a link in the current tab and F to open it in a new tab, and o and b to open URLs or bookmarks. It also offers a find mode, commands to copy the current address, and an insert mode that ignores keys until Escape. Pressing the question mark shows all bindings, and an options page lets you customize them.

The extension is available from the Chrome Web Store, Edge Add-ons and Firefox Add-ons, or can be installed from source. It is written in JavaScript and released under the MIT license. Advanced usage, such as regular expressions for find, is covered in the project wiki.

Key features

Vim-style keyboard shortcuts for browsing
Link hints to open pages without a mouse
Find mode with next and previous match
Open bookmarks and history from the keyboard
Customizable key bindings
Chrome, Edge and Firefox support

Good fit for

→Navigating the web keyboard-only
→Reducing mouse use for repetitive browsing

Built with: JavaScript
Tags: vim; browser-extension; keyboard-navigation; productivity; chrome-extension; firefox-extension; javascript

Vimium: questions and answers

What is Vimium used for?: Vimium is a browser extension that adds Vim-style keyboard navigation to Chrome, Edge and Firefox, so you can browse without the mouse. It is a good fit for navigating the web keyboard-only and reducing mouse use for repetitive browsing.
Is Vimium open source?: Yes. Vimium is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at philc/vimium and is written mainly in JavaScript.
Is Vimium free?: Yes. Vimium is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Vimium?: Yes. Vimium can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What are some alternatives to Vimium?: Similar open-source tools in the Productivity category include Dark Reader, Stylebot and Organice. SaaS products in the same category include AutoScroll Pro, 1 Pixel Workout and AfterFeed.
Is Vimium actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Vimium was on 25 July 2026. The project has 27k stars on GitHub.