head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs BrowserOS
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars, 1,754 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. BrowserOS has 13,700 stars, 1,454 forks, 82 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 225% (44,481 vs 13,700 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; BrowserOS is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, BrowserOS 11%. 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Zen Browser | BrowserOS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 14K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 BrowserOS if
- You want the BrowserOS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and BrowserOS 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 BrowserOS
BrowserOS is an open source agentic browser, written in TypeScript under AGPL 3.0, that puts AI agents inside a real Chromium browser on the user's own machine so they can work with real logged in accounts, and it is aimed at people who already use an agent harness such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or any MCP agent and want that agent to handle web tasks instead of a sandbox.
read the full BrowserOS overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Browsers & Extensions projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Browsers & Extensions field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or BrowserOS more popular?
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars and BrowserOS has 13,700. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and BrowserOS free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and BrowserOS under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and BrowserOS?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and BrowserOS 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 BrowserOS?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (44,481 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose BrowserOS if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.