head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs qutebrowser
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars, 1,946 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. qutebrowser has 11,735 stars, 1,139 forks, 1,335 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 288% (45,517 vs 11,735 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; qutebrowser is written in Python under GPL-3.0. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, qutebrowser 10%. 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 | qutebrowser | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 12K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 1.1K |
| 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 qutebrowser if
- You want the qutebrowser feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and qutebrowser 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 qutebrowser
// SPDX License Identifier: GPL 3.0 or later // If you are reading this in plaintext or on PyPi: // // A rendered version is available at: // qutebrowser =========== // QUTE WEB HIDE image:qutebrowser/icons/qutebrowser 64x64.png[qutebrowser logo] A keyboard driven, vim like browser based on Python and Qt. image: Status", link=" image: badge",link=" link: link: link: // QUTE WEB HIDE END qutebrowser is a keyboard focused browser with a minimal GUI. It's based on Python and Qt and free software, licensed under the GPL. It was inspired by other browsers/addons like dwb and Vimperator/Pentadactyl. // QUTE WEB HIDE…
read the full qutebrowser overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or qutebrowser more popular?
Zen Browser has 45,517 GitHub stars and qutebrowser has 11,735. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and qutebrowser free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and qutebrowser under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and qutebrowser?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and qutebrowser in Python. 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 qutebrowser?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (45,517 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose qutebrowser if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.