Aside vs Safari

We make Yab, the third column.facts checked Oct 9 ↓

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.

Safari is Apple’s browser for Mac, iPhone and iPad, on WebKit, with Apple Intelligence for summaries and tab topics. Safari 27 also lets outside agents like Claude Code drive it over MCP.

The short answer

Pick Aside

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

Pick Safari

if you use a Mac and an iPhone and want your tabs and passwords on both
if you want AI that runs on your Mac or on Apple’s Private Cloud Compute
if you build sites and want Claude Code or Codex to test them in WebKit

Or Yabours

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 Safari, with Yab beside them for a Mac.

Aside vs Safari
What	Aside	Safari	Yab
Made by	Aside Computer Inc. (YC Fall 2025)	Apple	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	Built into iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks, history and passwords via 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 with macOS; Apple Intelligence is free on Macs with M1 or later	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	MCP	MCP and a command line
Engine	Chromium	WebKit	WebKit
Tabs down the side	Yes	No	Yes
Spaces	Yes	Yes	Yes
Split View	Yes	No	Yes
Extensions	Chrome Web Store	Safari’s, from the App Store	Chrome Web Store
Ad blocker	Built in	No	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. Apple Intelligence sums up pages, sorts tabs into topics and watches a page for price drops, and the Passwords app can change weak passwords for you; no agent that works through sites.

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. Safari can be driven over MCP, through safaridriver --mcp in Safari 27, once you allow remote automation and outside agents.

Tabs and windowsAside leads

Aside has tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. Safari has spaces.

PriceSafari leads

Aside: Free with 500 AI credits a month; Pro $20/month; Max $200/month; or your own ChatGPT or Claude plan. Safari: Free with macOS; Apple Intelligence is free on Macs with M1 or later.

Where it runseven

Aside runs on Mac and Windows. Safari runs on Mac and iPhone. On a Mac, Aside needs macOS 15 or later and Safari needs macOS 15 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, Safari: built into iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks, history and passwords via iCloud.

Engine and extensionsa matter of taste

Aside is built on Chromium, as Chrome is; Safari on WebKit, the engine Safari uses. Aside takes extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Safari from the App Store, as Safari extensions.

PrivacyAside leads

Aside has 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. Safari has no ad blocker of its own. Apple Intelligence runs on the Mac or on Private Cloud Compute, which Apple says doesn’t store what you ask or make it accessible to Apple.

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

Safari

Apple devices only
Tabs only across the top, and no Split View of two tabs
Extensions only from the App Store, in Safari’s format
Its AI needs a Mac with M1 or later and macOS 27

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

September 21, 2026Aside: Ad blocking with default filter lists turned on during setup
September 17, 2026Safari: Apple documented Safari 27’s MCP server for outside AI agents
September 14, 2026Aside: Windows version officially available (release 1.0.914.1)
September 14, 2026Safari: Safari 27 shipped with AI tab topics, Notify Me and Describe an Extension
February 25, 2026Aside: First Aside Browser release for macOS

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 Safari free?

Yes. Free with macOS; Apple Intelligence is free on Macs with M1 or later.

Which has an AI agent, Aside or Safari?

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. Apple Intelligence sums up pages, sorts tabs into topics and watches a page for price drops, and the Passwords app can change weak passwords for you; no agent that works through sites.

Which runs on Windows, Aside or Safari?

Aside does. Safari runs on Mac and iPhone.

Do Aside and Safari have phone apps?

Safari 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, Safari: built into iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks, history and passwords via iCloud.

Can I move from Safari to Aside?

Yes: Aside’s own help says it brings in from Safari.

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 vs Dia Aside vs Comet Aside vs Atlas Aside vs Opera Neon Aside vs Chrome Aside vs Edge Aside vs Firefox Aside alternatives Yab vs Aside Safari vs Chrome Edge vs Safari Firefox vs Safari Brave vs Safari Opera vs Safari Arc vs Safari Dia vs Safari Safari alternatives Yab vs Safari

Sources, read October 9, 2026. Something out of date? Write to hello@serafimlabs.io and we fix it.

Yab, Yet Another Browser.

Free for the Mac. Arc’s sidebar, your own Claude or ChatGPT as the agent, Chrome extensions on WebKit.

it’s freeMove from Aside Download