Orion vs Firefox

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

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.

Firefox is Mozilla’s open-source browser on its own engine, Gecko, on every desktop and phone. Its AI is optional: a Smart Window beta and a sidebar chatbot, all behind one switch.

The short answer

Pick Orion

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

Pick Firefox

if you want an open-source browser that isn’t Chromium
if you want AI off by default, or gone with one switch
if you want a free browser VPN, where it is offered

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

Orion and Firefox, with Yab beside them for a Mac.

Orion vs Firefox
What	Orion	Firefox	Yab
Made by	Kagi	Mozilla	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	Not yet
Price	Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once	Free; its built-in VPN is free up to 50 GB a 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	MCP	MCP and a command line
Engine	WebKit	Gecko	WebKit
Tabs down the side	A setting	A setting	Yes
Spaces	Yes	No	Yes
Split View	No	Yes	Yes
Extensions	Chrome and Firefox stores	Firefox add-ons	Chrome Web Store
Ad blocker	Built in	No	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. Firefox’s Smart Window beta chats with tabs you share and groups them, and a sidebar chatbot can use Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Le Chat or Copilot; it can’t click or fill forms, and one switch turns all AI off.

Agents like Claude Code and CodexFirefox leads

Orion has no MCP server or command line for outside agents. Firefox can be driven over MCP, through Mozilla’s Firefox DevTools MCP, which starts its own Firefox.

Tabs and windowseven

Orion has tabs down the side as a setting, spaces, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. Firefox has tabs down the side as a setting, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.

PriceFirefox leads

Orion: Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once. Firefox: Free; its built-in VPN is free up to 50 GB a month.

Where it runsFirefox leads

Orion runs on Mac and iPhone. Firefox runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. On a Mac, Orion needs macOS 10.14 or later and Firefox needs macOS 10.15 or later. On the phone, Orion: iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud. On the phone, Firefox: iPhone, iPad and Android; syncs tabs, bookmarks, passwords and history.

Engine and extensionsa matter of taste

Orion is built on WebKit, the engine Safari uses; Firefox on Gecko, Firefox’s engine. Orion takes extensions from both Chrome’s and Firefox’s stores, Firefox from Firefox’s add-ons.

PrivacyFirefox leads

Orion has an ad blocker built in. Orion has no telemetry, Kagi says; page summaries and translations go to Kagi’s servers. Firefox has a VPN and open code. Smart Window sends prompts and what you share through Mozilla’s servers to partner models; Mozilla says it keeps no chat logs without permission and doesn’t train on them.

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

Firefox

Its Smart Window AI is a beta in the US, Canada and France and needs a Mozilla account
Its AI can’t click, fill forms or buy for you
The free VPN covers the browser only, up to 50 GB a month, in a few countries
Firefox add-ons only, not the Chrome Web Store

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 16, 2026Firefox: Smart Window beta expanded from the US and Canada to France
June 23, 2026Orion: Orion 1.1 added per-tab containers and page translation
March 24, 2026Firefox: Firefox 149 added split view and a free built-in VPN
February 24, 2026Firefox: Firefox 148 added AI Controls with a switch that blocks all AI features
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 Firefox free?

Yes. Free; its built-in VPN is free up to 50 GB a month.

Which has an AI agent, Orion or Firefox?

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. Firefox’s Smart Window beta chats with tabs you share and groups them, and a sidebar chatbot can use Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Le Chat or Copilot; it can’t click or fill forms, and one switch turns all AI off.

Which runs on Windows, Orion or Firefox?

Firefox does. Orion runs on Mac and iPhone.

Do Orion and Firefox 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, Firefox: iPhone, iPad and Android; syncs tabs, bookmarks, passwords and history.

Can I move from Firefox to Orion?

Yes: Orion’s own help says it brings in from Firefox.

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 vs Arc Orion vs Vivaldi Orion vs Zen SigmaOS vs Orion Orion vs Chrome Orion vs Safari Orion vs Edge Orion alternatives Yab vs Orion Firefox vs Chrome Firefox vs Safari Firefox vs Edge Brave vs Firefox Opera vs Firefox Arc vs Firefox Dia vs Firefox Firefox alternatives Yab vs Firefox

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.

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