YabTabbit vs Brave
Tabbit is a free Chromium AI browser for Mac and Windows from Lumina Lab in Singapore, with chat, an agent mode and a choice of many vendors’ models.
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 a free agent browser with a wide choice of models, Chinese ones included
- if you want the same AI browser on Windows and Mac
- if you want Codex or Claude Code to use your signed-in sessions through its command line
- 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
- if you want Claude Code, Codex or Cursor to drive a real browser over MCP
At a glance
Tabbit and Brave, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Tabbit | Brave | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Lumina Lab (LUMINALAB PTE. LTD., Singapore) | Brave Software | Serafim Korablev |
| Status | Updated | Updated | Updated |
| Runs on | Mac and Windows | Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android | Mac |
| Phone app | Only for its Chinese edition, in Chinese; tabbit.ai lists mobile as planned | iPhone, iPad and Android; syncs tabs, bookmarks, passwords and history, no account | Not yet |
| Price | Free with a weekly AI allowance; Pro $30/month | 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 | An agent that works in 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 | a command line | No | MCP and a command line |
| Engine | Chromium | Chromium | WebKit |
| Tabs down the side | Yes | A setting | Yes |
| Spaces | Not stated | No | Yes |
| Split View | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Extensions | Chrome Web Store | 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.
AITabbit leads
Only Tabbit has an agent that clicks, types and finishes tasks in your pages. Tabbit chats with your tabs, files and screenshots, and its agent mode runs multi-step tasks in tab groups of its own, on GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen or GLM. 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.
Agents like Claude Code and CodexTabbit leads
Tabbit can be driven over a command line, through the Tabbit command line, with a skill for Codex, Claude Code and Cursor. Brave has no MCP server or command line for outside agents.
Tabs and windowsTabbit leads
Tabbit has tabs down the side, Split View and folders in the sidebar. Brave has tabs down the side as a setting, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.
Priceeven
Tabbit: Free with a weekly AI allowance; Pro $30/month. Brave: Free, with Leo; Leo Premium $14.99/month; Brave VPN $9.99/month.
Where it runsBrave leads
Tabbit runs on Mac and Windows. Brave runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. On a Mac, Tabbit needs macOS 13 or later and Brave needs macOS 13 or later. On the phone, Tabbit: only for its Chinese edition, in Chinese; tabbit.ai lists mobile as planned. On the phone, Brave: iPhone, iPad and Android; syncs tabs, bookmarks, passwords and history, no account.
Engine and extensionsa matter of taste
Both are built on Chromium, as Chrome is, so sites work as they do in Chrome. Both take extensions from the Chrome Web Store.
PrivacyBrave leads
Tabbit has an ad blocker built in. Tabbit sends prompts and pages you share to the model vendor you pick, on servers in Singapore or your region; its maker says it doesn’t train on your data. 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.
Tabbit
- Top models and heavy agent use need Pro at $30 a month
- The free AI is a weekly allowance, larger only if Tabbit is your default browser
- No Linux or phone apps yet
- No MCP server documented, only its command line
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
- September 8, 2026Tabbit: Tabbit CLI lets coding agents drive the browser with your logins
- August 21, 2026Tabbit: Version 1.11 dropped macOS 12; macOS 13 or later required
- July 2, 2026Brave: Containers added in Brave 1.92 for separate cookies per tab
- June 9, 2026Tabbit: Version 1.0 released after a 100-day public beta
- 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
Questions
Is Tabbit free?
Yes, with limits on its AI. Free with a weekly AI allowance; Pro $30/month.
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, Tabbit or Brave?
Tabbit. Tabbit chats with your tabs, files and screenshots, and its agent mode runs multi-step tasks in tab groups of its own, on GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen or GLM. 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.
Do Tabbit and Brave run on Windows?
Yes, both. Tabbit runs on Mac and Windows; Brave on Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android.
Do Tabbit and Brave have phone apps?
On the phone, Tabbit: only for its Chinese edition, in Chinese; tabbit.ai lists mobile as planned. On the phone, Brave: iPhone, iPad and Android; syncs tabs, bookmarks, passwords and history, no account.
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 Tabbit; an agent in your signed-in tabs like Tabbit’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
- Tabbit home page and FAQ
- Tabbit membership plans
- Tabbit release notes (What’s New)
- Tabbit CLI quick start (2026-09-18)
- Tabbit quick start guide
- Tabbit privacy policy
- App Store: Tabbit by Beijing KuXun Interactive Technology, universal iPhone and iPad, Simplified Chinese only, first released Jun 5, 2026
- Xiaomi App Store: Tabbit Android app, com.tabbit.ai, v0.52.9, updated Oct 9, 2026
- Tabbit China site, mobile download page (links the App Store app)
- Tabbit China membership page: bookmarks, passwords and chats sync on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, HarmonyOS
- Beijing News (Jun 9, 2026): Tabbit 1.0 launch, mobile testing begun
- 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.