head to head · open source
Zen vs Cinny
Zen has 4,225 GitHub stars, 143 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Cinny has 3,897 stars, 578 forks, 354 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Zen leads on adoption by 8% (4,225 vs 3,897 stars). Zen is written in Go under MIT; Cinny is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Zen has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, Cinny 15%. Zen 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 | Cinny | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.2K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 143 | ⑂ 578 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zen if
- You weight community size — 4.2K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Cinny if
- You want the Cinny feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Cinny fits your workflow better
About Zen
Zen is an open source desktop application written in Go for Windows, macOS, and Linux under the MIT license. It operates as a system wide ad blocker and privacy guard, so it applies to traffic from applications on the machine rather than only to browser tabs. It lives in the desktop security and privacy ecosystem, where users want filtering without browser extensions.
About Cinny
Cinny is an open source Matrix client written in TypeScript under AGPL 3.0. It lives in the Matrix ecosystem and is presented as "yet another matrix client," focusing on a simple, elegant, and secure interface. Its stated goal is an instant messaging application that is easy for people and has a modern touch.
read the full Cinny overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen or Cinny more popular?
Zen has 4,225 GitHub stars and Cinny has 3,897. Zen has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen and Cinny free?
Both are open source. Zen is licensed under MIT and Cinny under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen and Cinny?
Zen is written in Go and Cinny 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 or Cinny?
Choose Zen if you want the larger community (4,225 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Cinny if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.