YabAside vs Orion
Aside is an AI agent browser from a Y Combinator startup, on Chromium, for Mac and Windows. Its agent does multi-step work in the sites you are signed in to, on Aside’s own models or your ChatGPT or Claude plan.
Orion is Kagi’s browser for Mac, iPhone and iPad, on WebKit, the engine Safari uses, that also runs many Chrome and Firefox extensions. It has no telemetry and blocks ads by default.
The short answer
- if you want an agent for multi-step work across your signed-in sites, on Mac or Windows
- if you want a free plan with AI credits, or to bring your ChatGPT or Claude plan
- if you want Claude Code or Codex to drive it over MCP or its command line
- if you want Safari’s engine with Chrome and Firefox extensions, on Mac and iPhone
- if you want ads blocked and no telemetry from the start
- if you pay for Kagi Search
- if you miss Arc and want spaces, pins and folders kept, on a Mac
- if you already pay for Claude or ChatGPT and want it to work in your signed-in tabs
- if you want Claude Code, Codex or Cursor to drive a real browser over MCP
At a glance
Aside and Orion, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Aside | Orion | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Aside Computer Inc. (YC Fall 2025) | Kagi | Serafim Korablev |
| Status | Updated | Updated | Updated |
| Runs on | Mac and Windows | Mac and iPhone | Mac |
| Phone app | None yet; an iPhone app is in the works. Pro runs its agent from Slack or Telegram | iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud | Not yet |
| Price | Free with 500 AI credits a month; Pro $20/month; Max $200/month; or your own ChatGPT or Claude plan | Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once | Free; its AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan |
| AI | An agent that works in pages, on its own AI or yours | Chat about pages, on its own AI service | An agent that works in pages, on your Claude or ChatGPT plan |
| Driven by outside agents | MCP and a command line | No | MCP and a command line |
| Engine | Chromium | WebKit | WebKit |
| Tabs down the side | Yes | A setting | Yes |
| Spaces | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Split View | Yes | No | Yes |
| Extensions | Chrome Web Store | Chrome and Firefox stores | Chrome Web Store |
| Ad blocker | Built in | Built in | Built in |
| Open source | No | No | No |
Checked October 9, 2026 on each maker’s own pages, linked under Sources. Prices are per month, in US dollars.
Where they differ
What separates them, area by area. Where one plainly has more, it says who; where it comes down to taste, it says so.
AIAside leads
Only Aside has an agent that clicks, types and finishes tasks in your pages. Aside’s agent runs multi-step tasks in your signed-in sites, signs in from its own password vault without seeing the passwords, and asks before payments, posts and messages. Orion sums up pages and videos through Kagi’s Summarizer, with a paid Kagi plan; no chat and no agent.
Agents like Claude Code and CodexAside leads
Aside can be driven over MCP and a command line, through the aside command line, with aside mcp as its MCP server. Orion has no MCP server or command line for outside agents.
Tabs and windowsAside leads
Aside has tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. Orion has tabs down the side as a setting, spaces, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.
PriceAside leads
Aside: Free with 500 AI credits a month; Pro $20/month; Max $200/month; or your own ChatGPT or Claude plan. Orion: Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once.
Where it runseven
Aside runs on Mac and Windows. Orion runs on Mac and iPhone. On a Mac, Aside needs macOS 15 or later and Orion needs macOS 10.14 or later. Aside has no phone app yet: an iPhone app is in the works. Pro runs its agent from Slack or Telegram. On the phone, Orion: iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud.
Engine and extensionsa matter of taste
Aside is built on Chromium, as Chrome is; Orion on WebKit, the engine Safari uses. Aside takes extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Orion from both Chrome’s and Firefox’s stores.
Privacyeven
Both have an ad blocker built in. Aside keeps task transcripts and files on your Mac; model providers get the prompts, page snapshots and screenshots a task needs, and analytics sharing is on by default. Orion has no telemetry, Kagi says; page summaries and translations go to Kagi’s servers.
What their pages don’t lead with
Real limits, from the makers’ own words and our own use.
Aside
- The free plan has 500 AI credits a month; more is Pro at $20 or Max at $200
- Mac (macOS 15 or later) and Windows only, no phone apps
- Young: first released in February 2026, on Windows since September 2026
- Agents may use your saved passwords unless you change the default
Orion
- Apple only: the Windows and Linux versions stopped on October 2, 2026
- Not every extension works: support is partial
- No Split View of two tabs
- Closed source, and page summaries need a paid Kagi plan
Yab, honestly
- Mac only: macOS 15.4 or later, no Windows, iPhone or Android
- New: first released in September 2026
- Its AI needs a Claude or ChatGPT plan; ChatGPT’s free plan may work with low limits
- WebKit, as in Safari: a site tested only in Chrome can misbehave
- Closed source
What changed lately
- October 2, 2026Orion: Kagi ended Orion for Linux and Windows to focus on Mac and iOS
- September 21, 2026Aside: Ad blocking with default filter lists turned on during setup
- September 14, 2026Aside: Windows version officially available (release 1.0.914.1)
- June 23, 2026Orion: Orion 1.1 added per-tab containers and page translation
- February 25, 2026Aside: First Aside Browser release for macOS
- November 25, 2025Orion: Orion 1.0 for Mac left beta
Questions
Is Aside free?
Yes, with limits on its AI. Free with 500 AI credits a month; Pro $20/month; Max $200/month; or your own ChatGPT or Claude plan.
Is Orion free?
The browser is; its AI isn’t. Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once.
Which has an AI agent, Aside or Orion?
Aside. Aside’s agent runs multi-step tasks in your signed-in sites, signs in from its own password vault without seeing the passwords, and asks before payments, posts and messages. Orion sums up pages and videos through Kagi’s Summarizer, with a paid Kagi plan; no chat and no agent.
Which runs on Windows, Aside or Orion?
Aside does. Orion runs on Mac and iPhone.
Do Aside and Orion have phone apps?
Orion does. Aside has no phone app yet: an iPhone app is in the works. Pro runs its agent from Slack or Telegram. On the phone, Orion: iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud.
Is there a third option on a Mac?
Yab, Yet Another Browser, is free for the Mac: tabs down the side with spaces, folders and Split View, as in Aside; an agent in your signed-in tabs like Aside’s, on the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for. Claude Code, Codex and any MCP client can drive it too. It runs on WebKit, the engine Safari uses, and takes Chrome extensions. It is Mac only, and new.
More comparisons
- Aside home page
- Aside pricing
- Aside download page (macOS and Windows)
- Aside help: Get started (macOS 15 or later, import)
- Aside help: Manage your subscription
- Aside help: Configure AI providers
- Aside help: CLI, MCP and REPL
- Aside help: Browser basics (split tabs)
- Aside help: Password autofill and AI access policy
- Aside help: Privacy (analytics default on)
- Aside Browser changelog (Chromium, Windows, Memory Saver, imports, Intel fix)
- Aside components changelog (ad blocking, Sept 21 2026)
- Aside privacy policy (June 23 2026)
- Y Combinator company page
- Aside job listing: MTS, Mobile Engineer (iOS), build the iOS app from the ground up
- PiunikaWeb (Jul 20, 2026): Aside team member says a mobile app will ship soon
- Orion home page
- Kagi blog: Orion 1.0, 2025-11-25
- Kagi blog: An update on Orion for Linux and Windows, 2026-10-02
- Orion+ help page ($5/month, $50/year, $150 lifetime)
- Orion macOS release notes (1.1.3, 2026-09-28)
- Orion supported OS versions
- Orion update feed for macOS 10.14 (1.1.3, minimum 10.14.4)
- Orion Summarize Page
- Orion importing data
- Orion vertical tabs
- Orion tab groups
- Orion password management
- Orion ad and tracking blocking
- Orion respecting privacy (no telemetry)
- Orion Low Power Mode (suspends unused tabs)
- Orion FAQ (extensions, open source)
- Orion technical information (Web Extensions API support)
- Orion on the App Store (1.5.5)
- Orion feedback: split view request
- Kagi Help: Syncing Orion Data (tabs, bookmarks, reading list)
- Kagi Help: Troubleshooting syncing (iCloud Drive)
- Orion iOS/iPadOS release notes
- PiunikaWeb: Kagi says Orion for Android is ’not planned yet’ (2026-06-30)
- Yab Manual: Bringing in from another browser
- Yab Manual: Connecting Claude or ChatGPT
- Yab Manual: Extensions
- Yab Manual: Yab’s tools over MCP
- Yab Manual: Privacy
Yab, Yet Another Browser.
Free for the Mac. Arc’s sidebar, your own Claude or ChatGPT as the agent, Chrome extensions on WebKit.