head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs percy
Zen Browser has 44,504 GitHub stars, 1,760 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. percy has 2,315 stars, 84 forks, 44 open issues and last shipped 25 days ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 1,822% (44,504 vs 2,315 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; percy is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, percy 4%. 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 | percy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 2.3K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 84 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zen Browser if
- You weight community size — 45K 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 percy if
- You want the percy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and percy 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 percy
Percy is a Rust library and build workflow for creating frontend browser applications that compile to WebAssembly, with support for server side rendering, aimed at Rust developers who want to write client side, server side, or isomorphic web apps without leaving Rust.
read the full percy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or percy more popular?
Zen Browser has 44,504 GitHub stars and percy has 2,315. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and percy free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and percy under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and percy?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and percy in Rust. 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 percy?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (44,504 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose percy if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.