irbis-sh/zen-desktop

Health v2 · maintenance only

Adoption not part of the score

4205 stars · 139 forks observed · 2026-08-28

What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded

Zen is an open-source, system-wide ad-blocker and privacy guard for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It runs a local proxy that intercepts HTTP/HTTPS traffic from all applications and blocks ads, trackers, malware, and other unwanted content using pre-installed and custom filter lists.

Use cases

• block ads system-wide not just in the browser
• block youtube and spotify ads on desktop
• stop trackers in desktop applications
• block malware domains at the network level
• add custom hosts files and easylist filters
• replace browser ad-blockers weakened by manifest v3

When to choose

• you want one install to cover every browser and desktop app on your machine
• you need to block trackers embedded in native apps or OS components that browser extensions cannot reach
• you want an open-source, cross-platform alternative to tools like AdGuard desktop
• you want visibility into what requests are being blocked in real time

When to avoid

• you only need ad-blocking inside a single browser, where a lightweight extension is simpler
• you cannot or do not want to install a locally generated root certificate for HTTPS interception
• you need mobile (Android/iOS) ad-blocking, which this desktop app does not cover

Facets

application · maturity active

proxy security privacy gui http-server privacy security desktop-applications cross-platform windows go ad-blocker system-wide-filtering tracker-blocking easylist hosts-file https-interception mitm-proxy macos linux desktop

Member repositories

For agents

markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="irbis-sh/zen-desktop")