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Zen Browser

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Zen Browser
Developer(s)Zen Browser Team[1]
Initial releaseJuly 11th, 2024[2]
Stable release
1.12.8b[3] Edit this on Wikidata / 22 May 2025; 2 days ago (22 May 2025)
Repositoryhttps://github.com/zen-browser/desktop
Written inJavaScript, C++, CSS, HTML, Python, Shell
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows, macOS, Linux
LicenseMozilla Public License 2.0
Websitehttps://zen-browser.app/

Zen Browser is a free and open-source fork of Mozilla Firefox introduced in 2024,[4][5] with a focus on privacy, customizability and design.

Zen includes many of the radical layout changes and features associated with the Chromium-based web browser Arc.[6] After Arc was announced to no longer receive new features, Zen has been considered a major alternative[7] and a continuation in spirit.[8]

It is licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

Development

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The old Zen Browser logo, a white letter Z on a black rounded square
Early logo

Zen Browser started development on April 1, 2024,[9][non-primary source needed] after being mentioned in a Reddit post on r/browsers. On July 12, 2024, Zen was first publicly released as an Alpha build, named 1.0.0-a.1.[10][non-primary source needed] As of December 2024, there are 214 contributors to Zen Browser: 117 desktop contributors and 97 site contributors.[11][non-primary source needed] Zen Browser also has a Twilight build,[12][non-primary source needed] an unstable experimental build for testing the latest features. On December 10, 2024, Zen entered its beta phase, and rebranded with a new logo and website,[citation needed] with the tagline "welcome to a calmer internet".[13]

Compatibility

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Zen Browser is compatible with Microsoft Windows, macOS and Linux.[14] It had three download options: optimized, made for newer systems; generic, made for older systems; and ARM64, made for devices that run on ARM64 architectures. The optimized version used Advanced Vector Extensions 2, a CPU instruction set that enhances performance for certain tasks. This instruction set is available only on modern processors.[15][non-primary source needed] The optimized builds were discontinued in December 2024 due to high power consumption, user confusion, and incompatibility with other Clang optimizations.[16][non-primary source needed]

The Linux version is available for download as a Flatpak, AppImage and as a Tarball. The macOS and Windows version are available for x86_64 and ARM64.

Features

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Being based on Firefox, Zen is compatible with Firefox browser extensions, and offers browser synchronization through a Mozilla account.[6]

Tab management

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Zen Browser presents a vertical list of tabs in a sidebar[5]—a design pattern associated with Arc, though also present in earlier browsers such as Vivaldi and Microsoft Edge.[6] This sidebar can be displayed on the left or right side of the window,[6] and there is a Compact Mode that auto-hides it.[13] A traditional horizontal tab bar is planned.[17][18][non-primary source needed]

Zen can be partitioned into workspaces,[5][6] which separates tabs within the same window and shows one set at a time, allowing for grouping by topic or project.[13] Similarly to Opera, tabs can be pinned to specific workspaces,[14] whereas Essential tabs remain visible across them.[8][better source needed]

Tabs in the same workspace can be displayed together in Split View,[5] a tiled interface within a single Zen window.[6]

Glance[5] opens a link in a modal view that is more easily dismissed than a new tab.[13] It is invoked by clicking a link while holding a modifier key. The feature is based on Arc's Peek function (confused with tabless "Little Arc" windows in several reviews).[19]

Zen Sidebar is a detachable mobile-sized window, useful for viewing responsive websites compactly.[4]

Customization

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Zen Browser's user interface can be themed with color gradients and texture.[14]

Zen Mods (formerly called Themes Store) is a collection of user-generated theme add-ons designed to further customize Zen's interface.[4][5][13] As of February 12, 2025, 79 mods are available.[14]

Reception

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Zen Browser has been commended for its similar feature set to Arc in an open-source, non-Chromium environment, and for iterating on Firefox during a period of perceived stagnation.

Liam Proven from The Register praised Zen for being "free of Google code", having more usable implementations of Arc's features, and being compatible with older versions of operating systems, focusing on the vertical tab bar and tiling capabilities.[6]

Jack Wallen of ZDNet recommended Zen for improving on Firefox's customization and tab management, listing several Zen Mods to indicate its customizability.[5][14]

Writing for XDA, Adam Conway considered Zen to "combine the best of Floorp, Vivaldi, Firefox, and Chrome", noting the developer's willingness to add popularly requested features, and emphasizing the browser's detachment from Google's "web rendering monopoly". Conway described incompatibility with DRM-protected content as the "only major downside", while suggesting that software bugs that had drawn earlier criticism had been corrected.[8]

Security

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Zen Browser has several security features to protect user data and privacy:[20][non-primary source needed]

  • Zen Browser is based on the most recent version of Firefox, benefiting from Firefox's security updates and patches.
  • Tracking protection: The browser blocks third parties from tracking users' online activities.[13] Zen itself collects no user data and allows Mozilla's tracking to be disabled.[8]
  • Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) support: Zen Browser uses the OCSP to verify the validity of websites' SSL certificates, enhancing security against expired or revoked certificates.
  • Strict SSL standards: Insecure SSL connections are treated as broken by default, and Zen Browser blocks connections to websites that do not meet modern security standards.
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References

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  1. ^ "Dev Team - Zen Browser".
  2. ^ "Release Notes - Zen Browser".
  3. ^ "Release build - 1.12.8b (2025-05-22)". 22 May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
  4. ^ a b c "Zen Browser: An open-source alternative to Chromium-based browsers". The Business Standard. 2024-09-20. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Zen Browser is the customizable Firefox I've been waiting for - here's why". ZDNET. Retrieved 2024-12-11.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Proven, Liam (September 2, 2024). "Zen Browser is a no-Google zone that offers tiling nirvana". The Register. Retrieved December 18, 2024.
  7. ^ Adamson, Bon (November 9, 2024). "Arc Browser fell off -- here's why I'm returning to Chrome". Pocket-lint. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c d Conway, Adam (February 13, 2025). "Zen Browser is better than Brave, Arc, and Chrome, and I can't recommend anything else". XDA. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  9. ^ "Original Post". 31 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Release post". 12 July 2024.
  11. ^ zen-browser/desktop, Zen Browser, 2025-04-28, retrieved 2025-04-28
  12. ^ "Twilight download".
  13. ^ a b c d e f Hernandez, Alex (March 19, 2025). "Kagi Search and Zen Browser Review: A Dynamic Privacy-Focused Duo". Techaeris. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  14. ^ a b c d e Wallen, Jack (February 12, 2025). "5 reasons why Zen is my new favorite browser (RIP, Opera)". ZDNET. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  15. ^ "Choose between the generic and optimized build". docs.zen-browser.app. Archived from the original on 16 December 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-07.
  16. ^ "Why have optimized builds been removed?". docs.zen-browser.app. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  17. ^ "Big changes coming soon! · r/zen_browser · u/maubg". Reddit. 19 November 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  18. ^ "Even though we said we won't, we are still actively trying to find a suitable solution for them · x.com/zen_browser ·". X. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  19. ^ Garg, Sakshi (October 27, 2023). "What's 'Little Arc' in the Arc Browser and How to Configure It". All Things How. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  20. ^ "Security". docs.zen-browser.app. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
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