head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs Avalonia
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars, 1,754 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Avalonia has 31,517 stars, 2,826 forks, 1,875 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 41% (44,481 vs 31,517 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; Avalonia is written in C# under MIT. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Avalonia 9%. Zen Browser 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
| Zen Browser | Avalonia | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 32K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 2.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zen Browser if
- You weight community size — 44K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Avalonia if
- You want the Avalonia feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and Avalonia fits your workflow better
About Zen Browser
Zen Browser is a privacy focused, open source web browser built on Firefox’s Gecko engine. It inherits Firefox’s compatibility and extension ecosystem while introducing a streamlined interface and productivity oriented features. The project lives in the desktop browser ecosystem, targeting users who want a Firefox based experience with reduced clutter and enhanced customization.
read the full Zen Browser overview →
About Avalonia
Avalonia is a cross platform UI framework for .NET, written in C and driven by XAML. It provides a flexible styling system and targets a wide range of platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and WebAssembly. The project is mature and production ready, and it is used by companies such as Schneider Electric, Unity, JetBrains and GitHub. It lives in the .NET ecosystem and is distributed through the NuGet package manager.
read the full Avalonia overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or Avalonia more popular?
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars and Avalonia has 31,517. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and Avalonia free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Avalonia under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and Avalonia?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and Avalonia in C#. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Zen Browser or Avalonia?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (44,481 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Avalonia if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.