YabOrion 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.
Zen is a free, open-source browser built on Firefox that brings Arc’s layout, tabs down the side with spaces, folders and Split View, to Mac, Windows and Linux.
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 Arc’s layout, free and open source
- if you prefer Firefox’s engine and its add-ons
- if you want no AI in your browser at all
- 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 Zen, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Orion | Zen Browser | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Kagi | Zen Browser team (open-source community project) | Serafim Korablev |
| Status | Updated | Updated | Updated |
| Runs on | Mac and iPhone | Mac, Windows and Linux | Mac |
| Phone app | iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud | None; Zen says it has no plans for a mobile version | Not yet |
| Price | Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once | Free and open source | Free; its AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan |
| AI | Chat about pages, on its own AI service | No AI | 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 | Gecko | WebKit |
| Tabs down the side | A setting | Yes | Yes |
| Spaces | Yes | Yes | 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.
AIOrion leads
Orion has AI built in; Zen has less of it. Orion sums up pages and videos through Kagi’s Summarizer, with a paid Kagi plan; no chat and no agent. Zen has no AI: Firefox’s AI features are switched off by default.
Tabs and windowsZen leads
Orion has tabs down the side as a setting, spaces, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. Zen has tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.
Priceeven
Orion: Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once. Zen: Free and open source.
Where it runsZen leads
Orion runs on Mac and iPhone. Zen runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. On a Mac, Orion needs macOS 10.14 or later and Zen needs macOS 10.15 or later. On the phone, Orion: iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud. Zen has no phone app: Zen says it has no plans for a mobile version.
Engine and extensionsa matter of taste
Orion is built on WebKit, the engine Safari uses; Zen on Gecko, Firefox’s engine. Orion takes extensions from both Chrome’s and Firefox’s stores, Zen from Firefox’s add-ons.
Privacyeven
Orion has an ad blocker built in. Orion has no telemetry, Kagi says; page summaries and translations go to Kagi’s servers. Zen has open code. Zen sends no telemetry or crash reports, by its privacy policy; optional sync keeps encrypted data on Mozilla’s servers.
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
Zen Browser
- Releases are still labeled beta
- No phone app, and none planned
- Firefox add-ons only, not the Chrome Web Store
- No ad blocker of its own beyond Firefox’s tracking protection
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 5, 2026Zen: Spaces, folders and tabs sync between devices with a Mozilla account (1.22b)
- June 23, 2026Orion: Orion 1.1 added per-tab containers and page translation
- February 28, 2026Zen: Live folders for GitHub issues, pull requests and RSS (1.19b)
- November 25, 2025Orion: Orion 1.0 for Mac left beta
- August 27, 2025Zen: Tab folders added (1.15b)
Questions
Is Orion free?
The browser is; its AI isn’t. Free; Orion+ supporter plan $5/month, $50/year or $150 once.
Is Zen Browser free?
Yes. Free and open source.
Which has an AI agent, Orion or Zen?
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. Zen has no AI: Firefox’s AI features are switched off by default.
Which runs on Windows, Orion or Zen?
Zen does. Orion runs on Mac and iPhone.
Do Orion and Zen have phone apps?
Orion does. On the phone, Orion: iPhone and iPad; syncs tabs, bookmarks and passwords with your Mac through iCloud. Zen has no phone app: Zen says it has no plans for a mobile version.
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 Zen; 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)
- Zen home page
- Zen download page (macOS universal, Windows, Linux; beta)
- Zen 1.23.2b release (macOS universal dmg; Info.plist minimum 10.15)
- Zen 1.23.1b release (Firefox 157.0.1)
- Zen license (MPL-2.0)
- Zen AI preferences (all off)
- Zen welcome flow (Firefox import wizard)
- Firefox import from another browser
- Zen 1.15b release (folders)
- Zen 1.19b release (live folders)
- Zen 1.22b release (sync)
- Zen 1.12.9b release (tab unloader uses Firefox tab discarding)
- Zen FAQ (no mobile plans, donations)
- Zen Workspaces
- Zen Split View
- Zen Extensions (addons.mozilla.org)
- Zen Privacy and Security (Firefox password manager, tracking protection)
- Zen privacy policy
- Firefox 157 system requirements
- 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.