Features
Zen is compatible with Firefox browser extensions, and offers browser synchronization through a Mozilla account. [6]
Tab management
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. [11]
Zen can be grouped 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. [11] Similarly to Opera, tabs can be pinned separately in specific workspaces.
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. [11] 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). [12]
Tab folders were added in August 2025. [13] Tab folders are similar to tab groups found in other browsers like Chrome and Firefox, with the key difference that tab folders can be nested.
Reception
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] [10]
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]
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