head to head · open source
Zen Browser vs search-by-image
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars, 1,754 forks, 689 open issues and last shipped yesterday. search-by-image has 3,749 stars, 318 forks, 77 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. Zen Browser leads on adoption by 1,086% (44,481 vs 3,749 stars). Zen Browser is written in C++ under MPL-2.0; search-by-image is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. Zen Browser has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, search-by-image 8%. 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 | search-by-image | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 44K | ★ 3.7K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C++ | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-06-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 318 |
| 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 search-by-image if
- You want the search-by-image feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and search-by-image 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 search-by-image
Search by Image is an open source JavaScript browser extension released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. It lives in the productivity and browser extension ecosystem, where it provides reverse image search from Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Firefox according to the project metadata. The extension addresses a concrete verification problem: users need to determine where an image came from, whether it is duplicated, or whether it is used misleadingly on social media. Instead of copying image URLs or downloading files, users can search with the image directly from the browser.
read the full search-by-image overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen Browser or search-by-image more popular?
Zen Browser has 44,481 GitHub stars and search-by-image has 3,749. Zen Browser has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen Browser and search-by-image free?
Both are open source. Zen Browser is licensed under MPL-2.0 and search-by-image under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen Browser and search-by-image?
Zen Browser is written in C++ and search-by-image in JavaScript. 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 search-by-image?
Choose Zen Browser if you want the larger community (44,481 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose search-by-image if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.