Orion Browser by Kagi • Hacker News Board

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#21

Post by trvz » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:15 PM UTC

sebjones wrote: post #2

Been looking for a browser to replace Chrome which is very difficult I know. But Chrome just gets so bloated that my M1 Macbook Air is not able to run it anymore. How good is this browser in terms of actual daily performance?

That computer, even with only 8GB RAM, should still handle Chrome well. You may have something bad installed or something misconfigured.

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#22

Post by greggoB » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:15 PM UTC

margalabargala wrote: post #20

salmonik wrote: post #14

Where's the source code for their browser? Such move of not publishing it is almost bizarre for such a pro-privacy company.

Kagi is not a pro privacy company except inasmuch as they currently consider privacy to be profitable. They are a would-be AI company who discovered paid search was a viable way to self-fund. If you ask them what guarantees you have that they won't someday decide to sell your search history, their response will be "well, it doesn't make financial sense for us to do so. Now drop it" and ban you. Here's a blog post som…

> If you ask them what guarantees you have that they won't someday decide to sell your search history, their response will be "well, it doesn't make financial sense for us to do so. Now drop it" and ban you.

Can you provide any evidence of them having done this? As a paying Kagi subscriber, I am surely interested in knowing more.

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#23

Post by regecks » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:16 PM UTC

Any chance Apple Private Relay still works? That’s why I stick to Safari. Am a paying Kagi user.

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#24

Post by salmonik » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:18 PM UTC

mid-kid wrote: post #16

Is the source code published anywhere?

They have a github organization[0] but without explicit source code for the browser.

[0] https://github.com/OrionBrowser

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#25

Post by doublebash » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:18 PM UTC

ares623 wrote: post #19

No password manager built-in yet. Although I suppose I really should migrate to Apple's native password manager nowadays.

I had used the built-in password managers in browsers for years when using Android. Since I switched to iPhone, I couldn’t be happier with Apple Passwords.

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#26

Post by arvid-lind » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:24 PM UTC

Cider9986 wrote: post #15

sebjones wrote: post #2

Been looking for a browser to replace Chrome which is very difficult I know. But Chrome just gets so bloated that my M1 Macbook Air is not able to run it anymore. How good is this browser in terms of actual daily performance?

Brave is the best balance of privacy, security, and usability. I recommend it.

Been a big fan Brave for a while. I just recently learned about Brave Origin, the core browser with all the crypto/ads/etc removed, free for linux and one-time payment for others: https://brave.com/origin/

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#27

Post by mattmcal » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:24 PM UTC

KPGv2 wrote: post #13

fooqux wrote: post #5

> WebKit. > A web browser designed from the ground-up. Both of these can't be true. Perhaps they're thinking of Ladybird?

WebKit is a rendering engine, not a browser. It's a bit like saying "that isn't original art because you used Earth physics that govern how paint flows and dries.

The particular choice of the marketing phrase "from the ground up" sort of invites this kind of commentary on HN. This is hardly the first WebKit-based browser, so any commenter specifically holding their breath for a new, independent rendering and layout engine or JS engine might feel inclined to roll their eyes and snark.

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#28

Post by frizlab » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:27 PM UTC

Cyberdog wrote: post #17

villish wrote: post #11

The best feature is being able to use Firefox extensions and thus uBlock Origin and sponsorblock on iOS. It's a little buggy but worth it for me.

SponsorBlock has a native Safari/iOS extension that works fine.

I use 1Blocker which works very well too.

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#29

Post by coffeefirst » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:27 PM UTC

sebjones wrote: post #2

Been looking for a browser to replace Chrome which is very difficult I know. But Chrome just gets so bloated that my M1 Macbook Air is not able to run it anymore. How good is this browser in terms of actual daily performance?

It’s fast but it has just enough rough edges that I always go back to Firefox.

Re: Orion Browser by Kagi

#30

Post by frizlab » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 9:29 PM UTC

rav3ndust wrote: post #12

arvid-lind wrote: post #6

Was the Linux version just released or something? afaik Orion on iOS and Mac is nothing new.

it's been in beta on linux since early this year

And they have announced having funded a team for Orion on windows at the end of 2025.

https://orionfeedback.org/d/2321-orion-for-windows-android-l...