head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs markdown-viewer
Zen Browser has 44,486 GitHub stars, 1,755 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. markdown-viewer has 1,684 stars, 227 forks, 99 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 2,542% (44,486 vs 1,684 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; markdown-viewer is written in JavaScript under MIT. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, markdown-viewer 13%. 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 | markdown-viewer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 1.7K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2025-12-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 227 |
| 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 markdown-viewer if
- You want the markdown-viewer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and markdown-viewer 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 markdown-viewer
Markdown Viewer / Browser Extension Install: [Chrome] / [Firefox] / [Edge] / [Opera] / [Brave] / [Chromium] / [Vivaldi] Features Secure by design Render local and remote file URLs Granular access to remote origins Multiple markdown parsers Full control over the compiler options ([markdown it], [marked], [remark]) 30+ Themes ([cleanrmd], [GitHub][github theme]) Custom theme support GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) Auto reload on file change Syntax highlighted code blocks ([prism][prism]) Table of Contents (ToC) MathJax formulas ([mathjax]) Mermaid diagrams ([mermaid]) Convert emoji shortnames (icons provided free by…
read the full markdown-viewer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or markdown-viewer more popular?
Zen Browser has 44,486 GitHub stars and markdown-viewer has 1,684. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and markdown-viewer free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and markdown-viewer under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and markdown-viewer?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and markdown-viewer 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 markdown-viewer?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (44,486 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose markdown-viewer if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.