head to head · open source
Mattermost vs Zen
Mattermost has 39,510 GitHub stars, 9,087 forks, 1,012 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zen has 4,343 stars, 145 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Mattermost leads on adoption by 810% (39,510 vs 4,343 stars). Mattermost is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Zen is written in Go under MIT. Mattermost has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, Zen 3%. Mattermost was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Mattermost | Zen | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 40K | ★ 4.3K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 9.1K | ⑂ 145 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Mattermost if
- You weight community size — 40K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Zen if
- You want the Zen feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Zen fits your workflow better
About Mattermost
Mattermost is an open core, self hosted collaboration platform that offers chat, workflow automation, voice calling, screen sharing, and AI integration. This repo is the primary source for core development on the Mattermost platform; it's written in Go and React, runs as a single Linux binary, and relies on PostgreSQL. A new compiled version is released under an MIT license every month on the 16th. Deploy Mattermost on premises, or try it for free in the cloud. Learn more about the following use cases with Mattermost: DevSecOps Incident Resolution IT Service Desk Other useful resources: Download and Install…
read the full Mattermost overview →
About Zen
Zen: Your Comprehensive Ad Blocker and Privacy Guard There is, simply, no way, to ignore privacy. Because a citizenry’s freedoms are interdependent, to surrender your own privacy is really to surrender everyone’s. Edward Snowden, Permanent Record Website • Mastodon • Bluesky • Discord • Documentation Zen is an open source system wide ad blocker and privacy guard for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It works by setting up a proxy that intercepts HTTP requests from all applications, and blocks those serving ads, tracking scripts that monitor your behavior, malware, and other unwanted content. By operating at the system…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Mattermost or Zen more popular?
Mattermost has 39,510 GitHub stars and Zen has 4,343. Mattermost has the larger community by that measure.
Are Mattermost and Zen free?
Both are open source. Mattermost has no licence declared in this registry, and Zen is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Mattermost and Zen?
Mattermost is written in TypeScript and Zen in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Mattermost or Zen?
Choose Mattermost if you want the larger community (39,510 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Zen if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.