head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs NiceTab
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars, 1,946 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NiceTab has 789 stars, 91 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 5,669% (45,517 vs 789 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; NiceTab is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, NiceTab 12%. 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 | NiceTab | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 789 |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 91 |
| 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 NiceTab if
- You want the NiceTab feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and NiceTab 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 NiceTab
NiceTab English 中文 Русский Overview Note The extension is actively developed with ongoing updates. The screenshots below reflect history versions only. We encourage you to install the latest release for the most up to date experience. NiceTab is an open source browser extension that makes managing your browser tabs quick and convenient. Named NiceTab with the hope that it would be a "nice" tab management tool. Similar to other tab management extensions like OneTab , Toby , SessionBuddy , N Tab and KepTab . it supports browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, and any Chromium based browser. Developed…
read the full NiceTab overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or NiceTab more popular?
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars and NiceTab has 789. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and NiceTab free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and NiceTab under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and NiceTab?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and NiceTab 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 NiceTab?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (45,517 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose NiceTab if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.