head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs Linguist
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars, 1,946 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Linguist has 1,083 stars, 51 forks, 267 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 4,103% (45,517 vs 1,083 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; Linguist is written in TypeScript under BSD-3-Clause. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, Linguist 5%. 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 | Linguist | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 51 |
| 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 Linguist if
- You want the Linguist feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Linguist 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 Linguist
Linguist is a powerful browser extension built to replace commercial translation services — private, fast, and under your control. Translate web pages, highlighted text, subtitles (including Netflix), and private messages; hear translations via TTS; and save entries to a personal dictionary. Supports 130 languages. Why Linguist? Linguist is a standalone translation system — not a thin wrapper around a commercial widget. Translate privately and offline on your device, or plug in any backend you choose (including your own; see Custom translators). See a custom translators list for popular bindings. Linguist is…
read the full Linguist overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or Linguist more popular?
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars and Linguist has 1,083. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and Linguist free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Linguist under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and Linguist?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and Linguist 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 Linguist?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (45,517 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Linguist if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.