YabOrion vs Brave
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.
Brave is an open-source Chromium browser that blocks ads and trackers by default, with Leo, an AI chat that needs no account, on every desktop and phone.
The short answer
- 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 want ads and trackers blocked by default
- if you want AI chat without an account, or on your own local model
- if you need the same browser on every desktop and phone
- 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
At a glance
Orion and Brave, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Orion | Brave | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Kagi | Brave Software | Serafim Korablev |
| Status | Updated | Updated | Updated |
| Runs on | Mac and iPhone | Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android | Mac |
| Phone app | iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud | iPhone, iPad and Android; syncs tabs, bookmarks, passwords and history, no account | Not yet |
| Price | Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once | Free, with Leo; Leo Premium $14.99/month; Brave VPN $9.99/month | Free; its AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan |
| AI | Chat about pages, on its own AI service | Chat about pages, on its own AI or yours | An agent that works in pages, on your Claude or ChatGPT plan |
| Driven by outside agents | No | No | MCP and a command line |
| Engine | WebKit | Chromium | WebKit |
| Tabs down the side | A setting | A setting | Yes |
| Spaces | Yes | No | Yes |
| Split View | No | Yes | Yes |
| Extensions | Chrome and Firefox stores | Chrome Web Store | Chrome Web Store |
| Ad blocker | Built in | Built in | Built in |
| Open source | No | Yes | 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.
AIa matter of taste
Both have AI to ask about pages, and neither does the clicking for you. Orion sums up pages and videos through Kagi’s Summarizer, with a paid Kagi plan; no chat and no agent. Leo chats about your tabs, PDFs and images, with no account, on Brave’s models or your own; an agent is in early testing behind a flag, in a separate profile without your sign-ins.
Tabs and windowseven
Orion has tabs down the side as a setting, spaces, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. Brave has tabs down the side as a setting, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.
PriceBrave leads
Orion: Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once. Brave: Free, with Leo; Leo Premium $14.99/month; Brave VPN $9.99/month.
Where it runsBrave leads
Orion runs on Mac and iPhone. Brave runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. On a Mac, Orion needs macOS 10.14 or later and Brave needs macOS 13 or later. On the phone, Orion: iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud. On the phone, Brave: iPhone, iPad and Android; syncs tabs, bookmarks, passwords and history, no account.
Engine and extensionsa matter of taste
Orion is built on WebKit, the engine Safari uses; Brave on Chromium, as Chrome is. Orion takes extensions from both Chrome’s and Firefox’s stores, Brave from the Chrome Web Store.
PrivacyBrave leads
Orion has an ad blocker built in. Orion has no telemetry, Kagi says; page summaries and translations go to Kagi’s servers. Brave has an ad blocker built in, a VPN and open code. Brave says Leo doesn’t keep or share chats, doesn’t train on them and doesn’t collect identifiers like IP addresses.
What their pages don’t lead with
Real limits, from the makers’ own words and our own use.
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
Brave
- More Leo models and higher limits need Leo Premium at $14.99 a month
- Its AI agent is an early test behind a flag, without your sign-ins
- The VPN is $9.99 a month extra
- Tabs down the side are a setting, and there are no spaces
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
- July 2, 2026Brave: Containers added in Brave 1.92 for separate cookies per tab
- June 23, 2026Orion: Orion 1.1 added per-tab containers and page translation
- June 4, 2026Brave: Brave Origin launched: a paid, minimal Brave without Leo, Rewards, Wallet and VPN
- May 5, 2026Brave: Leo agentic AI browsing opened for early testing on all release channels, behind a flag
- November 25, 2025Orion: Orion 1.0 for Mac left beta
Questions
Is Orion free?
The browser is; its AI isn’t. Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once.
Is Brave free?
Yes, with limits on its AI. Free, with Leo; Leo Premium $14.99/month; Brave VPN $9.99/month.
Which has an AI agent, Orion or Brave?
Neither has an agent that does tasks in your pages. Orion sums up pages and videos through Kagi’s Summarizer, with a paid Kagi plan; no chat and no agent. Leo chats about your tabs, PDFs and images, with no account, on Brave’s models or your own; an agent is in early testing behind a flag, in a separate profile without your sign-ins.
Which runs on Windows, Orion or Brave?
Brave does. Orion runs on Mac and iPhone.
Do Orion and Brave have phone apps?
Both do. On the phone, Orion: iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud. On the phone, Brave: iPhone, iPad and Android; syncs tabs, bookmarks, passwords and history, no account.
Can I move from Brave to Orion?
Yes: Orion’s own help says it brings in from Brave.
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 Orion; an agent that works in your signed-in tabs, 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
- 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)
- Brave Leo page
- Brave blog: AI browsing early testing (updated 2026-05-05)
- Brave Premium prices
- Brave Origin page
- Brave blog: Brave Origin launch
- Brave blog: Containers (v1.92)
- Brave blog: vertical tabs
- Brave desktop changelog (split view, tab groups, memory)
- What’s new in Brave desktop
- Brave Help: system requirements
- Brave release v1.97.56 notes
- Brave Help: import or export browsing data
- Brave: import passwords via CSV
- brave-browser repository (open source)
- Brave blog: Sync v2 for desktop and Android (Aug 13, 2020)
- Brave Help Center: How do I set up Sync?
- Brave release notes (iOS: Sync Chain and Tabs on Other Devices, 2026)
- Brave iOS source: sync types (bookmarks, history, passwords, open tabs)
- Brave on the App Store (iPhone and iPad)
- Brave on Google Play
- 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.