Scenario #1 · CurseForge #1
JEI
“Just Enough Items”. A giant recipe browser: ~608M downloads on that platform.
Scenario #2 · Modrinth #1
Fabric API
A library other mods need to run on a modern loader. Not a recipe browser.
A side-by-side of two store charts from the same research pull. Same hobby. Different mountains.
Say which store you mean before you crown a #1 mod. Phone stores work the same way: Google Play’s top free list is not Apple’s.
1. Two tops, two casts
CurseForge top (sample)
| # | Project | Downloads |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Just Enough Items (JEI) | 607,903,927 |
| 2 | Mouse Tweaks | 467,549,870 |
| 3 | AppleSkin | 405,742,265 |
| 4 | Bookshelf | 404,375,888 |
| 5 | Controlling | 387,197,925 |
| 6 | GeckoLib | 392,459,540 |
| 7 | Cloth Config API (Fabric/Forge/NeoForge) | 367,394,887 |
| 8 | Clumps | 360,849,579 |
Modrinth top (sample)
| # | Project | Downloads |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabric API | 226,821,998 |
| 2 | Sodium | 202,411,472 |
| 3 | Iris Shaders | 157,796,369 |
| 4 | Cloth Config API | 151,555,951 |
| 5 | Entity Culling | 148,022,388 |
| 6 | FerriteCore | 136,979,771 |
| 7 | Mod Menu | 130,077,388 |
| 8 | Lithium | 116,245,542 |
Snapshots from numbers I saved in August 2026. These columns are not one true “player count.”
2. Why the charts disagree
- CurseForge long favored huge Forge/NeoForge helpers. Recipe browsers, inventory tweaks.
- Modrinth is thicker with Fabric-era speed-ups and shared libraries.
- Overlap exists: some mods ship on both. But the order of the mountains still differs.
Same hobby. Two charts. Say the store name before you crown a #1.
How I calculated it
CurseForge and Modrinth top-mod extracts from the August 2026 research pull. Download totals are platform-reported. Columns are not cross-store comparable as one “player count.”
See also
This is not a war scoreboard. I am not crowning a “winner site.” Say which store you mean before you crown a #1 mod.
Sources
- CurseForge top mods extract (numbers I saved, August 2026).
- Modrinth top mods extract: also What’s actually #1 on Minecraft’s biggest mod chart?.
