head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs peerjs
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars, 1,754 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. peerjs has 13,446 stars, 1,460 forks, 201 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 231% (44,481 vs 13,446 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; peerjs is written in TypeScript under MIT. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, peerjs 11%. 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 | peerjs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 13K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | C++ | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 peerjs if
- You want the peerjs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and peerjs 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 peerjs
PeerJS is an open source library that provides a complete, configurable, and easy to use peer to peer API built on top of WebRTC. It lives in the JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystem, is written in TypeScript, and is distributed under the MIT license. The library supports both data channels and media streams, so applications can send arbitrary messages between browsers or negotiate audio and video calls without routing traffic through a central media server.
read the full peerjs overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or peerjs more popular?
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars and peerjs has 13,446. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and peerjs free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and peerjs under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and peerjs?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and peerjs 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 peerjs?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (44,481 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose peerjs if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.