Privacy, web and email5 picks
The best web browsers for Mac
Brave is the browser most Mac users should switch to, and it blocks ads and trackers for free.
BravePick it if you want ads and cookie pop-ups gone on Mac and iPhone without installing blockers.Free to startBrave blocks ads and trackers on its own, free on Mac, iPhone and iPad. Orion suits Safari fans who need Chrome extensions, Zen keeps dozens of tabs apart in workspaces, and Dia adds AI that answers from your tabs. Velja is not a browser at all, since it sends each link you click to the browser or profile you choose.
How we chose
- 1Ad and tracker blocking built in
- 2Support for the extensions you rely on
- 3Keeping work and personal tabs apart
Compare at a glance
Tap a name to jump to its write-up.
| App | Price | How you pay | Mac | iPhone | iPad | App Store | Developer | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brave | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4.8 | |||||
 Orion | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | 4 | |||||
 Zen Browser | Free, open source | Free | Too few ratings | |||||
 Dia | Free to start | Free, with paid upgrades | Too few ratings | |||||
 Velja | $10 once | Pay once | Too few ratings |
Swipe the table sideways to see more
The picks, in order
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Pick it if you want ads and cookie pop-ups gone on Mac and iPhone without installing blockers.
The ads that play before and during web videos get blocked along with banners, trackers and cookie pop-ups, with no extension to install and nothing to set up. A Shred button wipes 1 site's data without logging you out of everything else. The VPN and premium AI cost extra and nobody needs them for the blocking, and if tab organization matters more to you than ads, Arc or Zen is the better browser.
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Pick this if you like Safari's engine but rely on Chrome extensions you can't give up.
Free on Mac, iPhone and iPad, this browser from Kagi runs on the same WebKit engine as Safari but sends zero telemetry and blocks ads out of the box. It also installs many Chrome and Firefox extensions, though not every one, which is something Safari can't do at all. Orion+ at $5 a month adds early builds, floating windows, programmable buttons and custom icons, but the free version is the one most people want.
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Pick it if you keep dozens of tabs across projects and want a free Firefox-based browser with workspaces.
Sort your tabs into workspaces for work, side projects and personal browsing, then hide the tab bar with Compact Mode when you want the whole screen. Zen is a free, open source browser built on Firefox, so it suits people who like how Arc sorts tabs into Spaces but want Firefox underneath. It is still labeled beta, which means rough edges that Safari doesn't have.
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Pick this if you want an AI in the browser that can answer from your tabs and work tools.
The top plan for this free browser costs $100 a month, and it covers an AI that writes a daily Morning Brief, preps your meetings and builds reports and decks from Slack, Notion and Google Workspace. The $10 plan handles chat across your open tabs, and without AI you still get profiles, split view and an ad blocker. If you only want the browser part, Arc comes from the same team and is free.
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Pick it if you already have browsers you like and just want links to open in the right one.
macOS sends every link to the same default browser, while Velja decides per link, so Google Meet opens in Chrome, Figma links open in the Figma app and the rest go to Safari. Hold Fn to choose by hand, and it strips tracking parameters along the way. It can't reroute links you click inside a browser unless you use its extension, and $10 once covers your family through Family Sharing.
Head to head
Stuck between 2 of these? Each comparison lines up price, devices and who should pick which.
- Brave vs OrionPick this if you like Safari's engine but rely on Chrome extensions you can't give up.
- Brave vs Zen BrowserPick it if you keep dozens of tabs across projects and want a free Firefox-based browser with workspaces.
- Brave vs DiaPick this if you want an AI in the browser that can answer from your tabs and work tools.
- Orion vs Zen BrowserPick it if you keep dozens of tabs across projects and want a free Firefox-based browser with workspaces.
