head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs pasteguard
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars, 1,946 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. pasteguard has 805 stars, 44 forks, 4 open issues and last shipped 21 days ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 5,554% (45,517 vs 805 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; pasteguard is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, pasteguard 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 | pasteguard | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 805 |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 44 |
| 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 pasteguard if
- You want the pasteguard feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and pasteguard 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 pasteguard
AI gets the context. Not your private data. PasteGuard masks PII and secrets before they reach ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, your API provider, Codex, or Claude Code. Browser Chat · Apps & APIs · Coding Agents · Documentation You keep the originals. Providers see placeholders. Run it locally or self host it in your own infrastructure. What PasteGuard Protects PasteGuard is a local first privacy layer for teams that cannot send raw client data, customer records, logs, credentials, or production details directly to model providers. It works in three places: Browser Chat ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Paste customer…
read the full pasteguard overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or pasteguard more popular?
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars and pasteguard has 805. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and pasteguard free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and pasteguard under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and pasteguard?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and pasteguard 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 pasteguard?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (45,517 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose pasteguard if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.