head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs ego-lite
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars, 1,754 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ego-lite has 16,117 stars, 844 forks, 169 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 176% (44,481 vs 16,117 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; ego-lite is written in JavaScript under MIT. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, ego-lite 5%. 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 | ego-lite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 16K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 844 |
| 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 ego-lite if
- You want the ego-lite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and ego-lite 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 ego-lite
ego lite is an MIT licensed browser from citrolabs that lets a person and their AI agents drive the same browser in parallel, aimed at developers who want Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or a custom agent CLI to automate real, logged in web pages without surrendering the tabs they are using.
read the full ego-lite overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or ego-lite more popular?
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars and ego-lite has 16,117. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and ego-lite free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and ego-lite under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and ego-lite?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and ego-lite 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 ego-lite?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (44,481 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose ego-lite if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.