head to head · open source
Tuta vs Zen
Tuta has 8,110 GitHub stars, 653 forks, 1,001 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Zen has 4,347 stars, 145 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Tuta leads on adoption by 87% (8,110 vs 4,347 stars). Tuta is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0; Zen is written in Go under MIT. Tuta has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Zen 3%. Tuta 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
| Tuta | Zen | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.1K | ★ 4.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 653 | ⑂ 145 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Tuta if
- You weight community size — 8.1K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Zen if
- You want the Zen feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Zen fits your workflow better
About Tuta
Tuta Mail makes encryption easy Tuta Mail is the secure email service with built in end to end encryption that enables you to communicate securely with anyone on all your devices. Forum for bug reports/feature requests: Roadmap: Issue and feature tracker: Please submit your feature requests via Reddit or via support mail. Web client • iOS App Store • Desktop Client Translating Tuta See TRANSLATING.md Building See BUILDING.md. Developing Tuta See HACKING.md. Contribution policy This project does not accept contributions or bug reports produced, in part or in full, with assistance of large language models…
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…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Tuta or Zen more popular?
Tuta has 8,110 GitHub stars and Zen has 4,347. Tuta has the larger community by that measure.
Are Tuta and Zen free?
Both are open source. Tuta is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Zen under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Tuta and Zen?
Tuta is written in TypeScript and Zen in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Tuta or Zen?
Choose Tuta if you want the larger community (8,110 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Zen if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.