head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs chrome-remote-interface
Zen Browser has 44,486 GitHub stars, 1,755 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. chrome-remote-interface has 4,553 stars, 322 forks, 12 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 877% (44,486 vs 4,553 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; chrome-remote-interface is written in JavaScript under MIT. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, chrome-remote-interface 7%. Zen Browser was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (firefox), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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 13541 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Zen Browser | chrome-remote-interface | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 4.6K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 322 |
| 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 chrome-remote-interface if
- You want the chrome-remote-interface feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and chrome-remote-interface 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 chrome-remote-interface
chrome remote interface is an MIT licensed JavaScript library that gives Node.js applications a straightforward API for the Chrome Debugging Protocol, so they can instrument Chrome and other protocol compatible runtimes without handling raw protocol messages.
read the full chrome-remote-interface 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 chrome-remote-interface more popular?
Zen Browser has 44,486 GitHub stars and chrome-remote-interface has 4,553. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and chrome-remote-interface free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and chrome-remote-interface under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and chrome-remote-interface?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and chrome-remote-interface in JavaScript. 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 chrome-remote-interface?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (44,486 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose chrome-remote-interface if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.