head to head · open source
Zen vs Quiet
Zen has 4,347 GitHub stars, 145 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Quiet has 2,660 stars, 150 forks, 773 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Zen leads on adoption by 63% (4,347 vs 2,660 stars). Zen is written in Go under MIT; Quiet is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. Zen has attracted 3% as many forks as stars, Quiet 6%. 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 | Quiet | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 4.3K | ★ 2.7K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 145 | ⑂ 150 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zen if
- You weight community size — 4.3K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Quiet if
- You want the Quiet feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Quiet fits your workflow better
About Zen
Zen: Your Comprehensive Ad Blocker and Privacy Guard There is, simply, no way, to ignore privacy. Because a citizenry’s freedoms are interdependent, to surrender your own privacy is really to surrender everyone’s. Edward Snowden, Permanent Record Website • Mastodon • Bluesky • Discord • Documentation Zen is an open source system wide ad blocker and privacy guard for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It works by setting up a proxy that intercepts HTTP requests from all applications, and blocks those serving ads, tracking scripts that monitor your behavior, malware, and other unwanted content. By operating at the system…
About Quiet
Quiet Encrypted p2p team chat with no servers, just Tor. Downloads How it Works Features Threat Model Mission FAQ Developer setup Quiet is an alternative to team chat apps like Slack, Discord, and Element that does not require trusting a central server or running one's own. In Quiet, all data syncs directly between a team's devices over Tor with no server required. NOTE: Quiet is not audited and should not be used when privacy and security are critical. It lacks basic features and probably won't replace your Slack or Discord yet. That said, it works surprisingly well and we use it daily as a Slack replacement…
read the full Quiet overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zen or Quiet more popular?
Zen has 4,347 GitHub stars and Quiet has 2,660. Zen has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zen and Quiet free?
Both are open source. Zen is licensed under MIT and Quiet under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Zen and Quiet?
Zen is written in Go and Quiet 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 Quiet?
Choose Zen if you want the larger community (4,347 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Quiet if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.