head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs brie-extension
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars, 1,946 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. brie-extension has 724 stars, 51 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 6,187% (45,517 vs 724 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; brie-extension is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, brie-extension 7%. 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 | brie-extension | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 724 |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-06-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 51 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zen Browser if
- You weight community size — 46K 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 brie-extension if
- You want the brie-extension feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and brie-extension fits your workflow better
About Zen Browser
Zen Browser Zen is a firefox based browser with the aim of pushing your productivity to a new level! Download • Website • Documentation • Release Notes Firefox Versions Release Is currently built using Firefox version 155.0.1 ! Twilight Is currently built using Firefox version RC 155.0.1 ! Contributing If you'd like to report a bug, please do so on our GitHub Issues page and for feature requests, you can use GitHub Discussions. Zen is an open source project, and we welcome contributions from the community! Please take a look at the contribution guidelines before getting started! Partners Thanks to all the…
read the full Zen Browser overview →
About brie-extension
⚡️ Capture screenshots, console errors, network issues, and user actions, giving developers full context instantly. Website • Docs • Discord 🚀 Capture & Share Instantly: Record exactly what went wrong, no more back and forth emails or messy screenshots. 🛠️ Developer Ready Reports: Brie auto captures console logs, network errors, and user actions so devs get full context instantly. 🕒 Save Time, Build Faster: No wasted hours on unclear bug reports, just fast fixes and better software. 🔥 Join Thousands of Fast Moving Teams: Install Brie and start shipping bug free software today! 💫 Quickstart 1. Add Brie from…
read the full brie-extension overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or brie-extension more popular?
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars and brie-extension has 724. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and brie-extension free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and brie-extension under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and brie-extension?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and brie-extension in TypeScript. 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 brie-extension?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (45,517 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose brie-extension if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.