Lepton vs ZY Player
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
A lean desktop app for organizing code snippets stored in GitHub Gists or GitLab snippets.
Open source · MIT
Desktop video player for online video sources, with no ads, for Windows, Mac and Linux.
The short answer
Choose Lepton if you need…
- Developers who already keep snippets as GitHub Gists or GitLab snippets
- People who want a desktop editor for their existing snippet collection
- Users who want Markdown or Jupyter notebook snippets in one place
- Users who need a proxy or GitHub Enterprise support
Choose ZY Player if you need…
- People who want a desktop player for online video sources without ads
- Users on Windows, Mac or Linux who want a single app for browsing and playing
- People who want to import and export their own video source lists and favorites
- Users who want playback shortcuts and a small floating mini window
Side-by-side
| Lepton | ZY Player | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | App | App |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 10.3k | 14.5k |
| Setup difficulty | Beginner | Beginner |
| How you get it | Install with a package manager | Download the app |
| Main language | JavaScript | Vue |
| Last code update | 4 days ago | 4 years ago |
What each one is
Lepton
Lepton is a desktop app for saving and organizing small pieces of code and notes. Instead of storing snippets only on your computer, it syncs them with GitHub Gist or GitLab personal snippets. It supports tags, language groups, Markdown and Jupyter Notebook content, search, and light and dark themes.
ZY Player
ZY Player is a desktop app built with Electron and Vue that plays videos from online resource sources. It offers poster and list browsing, playback history, favorites, search across sources, and a compact mode. The README says the app itself does not host or upload any content.
Best for
Lepton
- Developers who already keep snippets as GitHub Gists or GitLab snippets
- People who want a desktop editor for their existing snippet collection
- Users who want Markdown or Jupyter notebook snippets in one place
- Users who need a proxy or GitHub Enterprise support
ZY Player
- People who want a desktop player for online video sources without ads
- Users on Windows, Mac or Linux who want a single app for browsing and playing
- People who want to import and export their own video source lists and favorites
- Users who want playback shortcuts and a small floating mini window
Strengths
Lepton
- Free and MIT licensed, with a Free feature listed in the README
- Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux
- Customizable through a documented config file and a range of built-in themes
ZY Player
- The README describes the app as free and ad-free
- Supports Windows, Mac and Linux from one codebase
- Has keyboard shortcuts and an import/export feature for sources and favorites
Not ideal for
Lepton
- People who want fully offline storage, since the README describes syncing with GitHub or GitLab
- Users who need real GitHub login without setting up their own OAuth client ID and secret, since the README says the dummy config will not support real login
- Teams looking for shared or collaborative snippet editing, which the README does not describe
ZY Player
- Anyone looking for officially licensed content, since the README says the sources come from the web and the download channel is currently closed
- Users who need active maintenance or security updates, since the last push was in February 2023
- Users who need a supported, documented developer API or plugin system, which the README does not describe
Trade-offs
Lepton
- Setup for development requires registering a GitHub OAuth application and adding its credentials to a local config file
- The README says the smoke tests are non-blocking CI checks and that fixtures do not verify OAuth, snippet CRUD, or sync
- Depends on GitHub or GitLab services for storage
ZY Player
- The README says the download channel is temporarily closed, so getting the app may be difficult
- The last code push was 2023-02-09, so the project may not be actively maintained
- Content comes from third-party sources the README does not control, and the README asks users to delete the app within 24 hours
Getting started
Lepton
macOS install via Homebrew
brew install --cask leptonLinux install via Snap
snap install leptonZY Player
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Hunlongyu/ZY-PlayerFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between Lepton and ZY Player?
Lepton: A lean desktop app for organizing code snippets stored in GitHub Gists or GitLab snippets. ZY Player: Desktop video player for online video sources, with no ads, for Windows, Mac and Linux. Lepton suits developers who already keep snippets as github gists or gitlab snippets, while ZY Player suits people who want a desktop player for online video sources without ads.
Are Lepton and ZY Player free?
Lepton: Free and open source. ZY Player: Free and open source.
Is Lepton or ZY Player more popular?
ZY Player has more GitHub stars (14.5k) than Lepton (10.3k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to Lepton and ZY Player?
Other options people compare them with include Dash, PicGo, Memos, Carbon, AiToEarn.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.