head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs firefox-ios
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars, 1,946 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. firefox-ios has 13,069 stars, 3,294 forks, 1,827 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 248% (45,517 vs 13,069 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; firefox-ios is written in Swift under MPL-2.0. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, firefox-ios 25%. firefox-ios 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 | firefox-ios | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 13K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 3.3K |
| 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 firefox-ios if
- You want the firefox-ios feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and firefox-ios 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 firefox-ios
Firefox for iOS and Focus iOS Download Firefox iOS and Focus iOS on the App Store. Firefox iOS Focus iOS Building the code This is a monolithic repository, containing both the Firefox and Focus iOS projects. As this is an iOS project, it is required to have Xcode on your system, and you should check that xcode select p points to /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer (or however you've named your Xcode.app ). Automatic Installation (Recommended) Steps: Automated Project Setup with FXIOS Manual Installation 1. Clone the repo locally 1. For their related build instructions, please follow the respective project…
read the full firefox-ios overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or firefox-ios more popular?
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars and firefox-ios has 13,069. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and firefox-ios free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and firefox-ios under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and firefox-ios?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and firefox-ios in Swift. 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 firefox-ios?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (45,517 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose firefox-ios if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.