head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs duckduckgo-privacy-extension
Zen Browser has 44,486 GitHub stars, 1,755 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. duckduckgo-privacy-extension has 1,494 stars, 333 forks, 198 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 2,878% (44,486 vs 1,494 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; duckduckgo-privacy-extension is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, duckduckgo-privacy-extension 22%. 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.
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Side by side
| Zen Browser | duckduckgo-privacy-extension | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 333 |
| 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 duckduckgo-privacy-extension if
- You want the duckduckgo-privacy-extension feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and duckduckgo-privacy-extension 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 duckduckgo-privacy-extension
DuckDuckGo Browser Extensions DuckDuckGo Firefox, Chrome, and Edge extensions. Visit our Web Tracking Protections page to learn how each of our web tracking protections works and how they work together in our browser extensions and apps to provide overlapping protection. DuckDuckGo Privacy Extensions is distributed under the Apache 2.0 License. Latest Versions Firefox Chrome Edge Opera Safari The code for the Safari extension is an Xcode project which you can find here. The Safari extension can be installed from the App Store. Other browsers If you use another Chromium based browser like Vivaldi, you can usually …
read the full duckduckgo-privacy-extension overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or duckduckgo-privacy-extension more popular?
Zen Browser has 44,486 GitHub stars and duckduckgo-privacy-extension has 1,494. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and duckduckgo-privacy-extension free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and duckduckgo-privacy-extension under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and duckduckgo-privacy-extension?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and duckduckgo-privacy-extension 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 duckduckgo-privacy-extension?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (44,486 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose duckduckgo-privacy-extension if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.