Very unfortunate news: was looking forward to another browser based on webkit available for the Linux community. The good news is that they’re at least open sourcing the code for the community.
TLDR; Kagi is ending development of Orion for Linux and Windows, but they’re open-sourcing both so the community can carry them forward. Kagi is stepping back from developing these platforms directly so the team can put more focus on Orion for macOS and iOS.
<Full Article in this spoiler>
Today we have an important update. We are ending development of Orion for Linux and Windows, and we’re open-sourcing both so the community can carry them forward. Kagi is stepping back from developing these platforms directly so our team can put more focus on Orion for macOS and iOS.
Orion is built by a very small team, just a handful of developers, funded entirely by Kagi users. We also chose to build it the hard way by not forking Chromium. That independence matters more than ever. The web needs more than one engine, and more than one company deciding what a browser should be.
When we announced Orion for Linux, the response was overwhelming. Many of you were thrilled, tested early builds, filed bug reports, and told us how much you wanted a WebKit-based browser on Linux that respects your privacy. Thank you. That work will soon belong to everyone.
Why we’re doing this When we decided to take Orion beyond the Apple ecosystem, we knew it was a big bet for a small, independent company. We made it because we believe owning the whole experience beginning with the browser, matters.
Building a cross-platform browser is something usually done by companies backed by venture capital or by large open-source communities. Kagi is neither. One thing we hear often from members is that they want us focused. They’re right. Rather than spread a small team across three platforms, we’re putting our energy where we can do our best work and opening the rest to people who want to take it further.
What this means for Orion on macOS and iOS Orion for macOS and iOS isn’t changing, except to get better. The team and resources that were split across platforms are now focused on making Orion on Apple devices faster, more stable, and more capable. Expect steady improvements in the coming months.
Download Orion for macOS Download Orion for iOS What open-sourcing looks like We’ll release the source code for Orion for Linux and Orion for Windows. A lot of good work went into it, and it deserves a future even if we aren’t the ones who finish it now. We’re thinking about this carefully and will release details in the next 30 days.
We’ve also reached out to open-source foundations and organizations about long-term stewardship. To be clear about our role: Kagi won’t be the core maintainer. These projects need people who want to own them.
Get involved If you’re a developer, maintainer, or organization interested in stewarding Orion for Linux or Windows, we want to hear from you. Reach us at [email protected].
What this means for current users Linux: The current Linux Beta will keep working, but it will stop receiving updates from Kagi after October 2, 2026. We don’t recommend using it as your main browser.
Windows: We had planned to launch Orion for Windows in late 2026. That release won’t come from Kagi. Instead, the code will be available for the community to build on. If you signed up for the Windows newsletter, this will be the last update you receive from that list.
Thank you To everyone who tested, reported bugs, and believed in an independent browser beyond the Apple ecosystem: thank you. You helped build something worth sharing, and we’re glad to share it with the community.
Thank you for your patience, your enthusiasm, and your trust.
— the Kagi team
Personally, I just don’t see any point in developing anything for closed platforms like MacOS or iOS.
At the end of the day, you’re just making Apple more money for free, on very bad terms. They have all the control; you’re just an unpaid intern.
Who knows when Apple will stop supporting half the libraries your project relies on?
Instead, you can develop for open platforms, which genuinely makes the world a slightly better place. In addition to you having a guarantee the project won’t have to shut down overnight.
I’m well aware that I can just search for this, but can anyone list a few other WebKit-based browsers on Linux?
Obligatory, I’m running CachyOS, btw.
GNOME Web aka Epiphany comes to mind first.
I canceled my Kagi subscription a few years ago when they jumped back on the AI bandwagon and saw all the resources being moved off their core product and into AI features no one asked for.
All their AI is opt in, can be turned off everywhere with one switch, and even support small web.
I didn’t want my money funding AI development.
They’re not developing AI. They give you access to a bunch of AI models, but they don’t train/create them. And as the guy above says, it’s completely optional. You don’t even get an AI answer like Google unless you add a ? to your search.
So if I, the customer, pay money, and this money gives me (optional) access to a bunch of commercial models… Does that not fund AI?
You can see exactly where every penny went on your account page. Search and AI use are separate line items. If you don’t use it, no money will go to it
No idea who would touch this AI browser slopware.
I read the article. They’re open sourcing the Windows and Linux versions, so the community can take over if they want to. So it will live or die based on what the community actually wants from it.
As a Mac user, it’s weird to see a company drop the other two in favour of maintaining the Mac version. I don’t use it, or Kagi, but I’m aware of both. It’s a good platform but we don’t have the users. Same with Linux, but it runs on more hardware, and bleeding the Windows market share benefits everyone, including Windows users.
As for iOS, there’s no winning the browser war there. It’s either Safari or compromise. I like Firefox, but it doesn’t/can’t do enough. DDG is good for YouTube because it blocks the ads. But mostly I just use Safari. On my Android phone, I use Firefox with uBlock Origin, naturally.
very good argument for using orion on ios is that they actually support ublock…
There’s uBO Lite for Safari.
does it work for youtube? that’s basically the only reason i use this anyway, the rest can be blocked with vpn based ad blocking usually
When I was on ios i just sideloaded a modded yt client in sidestore+livecontainer. I don’t remember the name but some are very popular amoung the ios sideloading community.
for macos just freetube should work.
Otherwise you can just use an individous instance in your browser pr whatevs.
Sorry if that isn’t related at all tho lol.
oh thanks for the suggestion! didn’t explore the sidestore situation yet, maybe i should!
Ye, you can only install 3 apps without exploits tho (I used to use lara until i broke my phone doing something very dumb and had to update it(the hardware broke not the software) it does only work for like a bit of 17 to a bit of 26 or something, before that you can probably jailbreak anyway) but you can use livestore and livecontainer as 1 app, livecontainer lets you install multiple apps in 1 container, basically bypassing the limit, problem is they’re on the same sandbox so be careful with personal info and that. It also doesn’t work for all apps.
You can also make shortcuts to apps inside livecontainer(s). Also you do need a pc or laptop for the initial setup but it’s actually mostly incredibly easy unless you’re the kind of people who don’t know to install a .exe file (I’ve seen people do that(i don’t even main windows))
Also idk if apple is trying to break this stuff but I’ve heard some stuff breaks sometimes, I didn’t experience it cuz I didn’t actually update my devices but yeah.
You normally can’t use JIT but you can activate it but it does use the vpn slot and you need to sideload something like stickdebug I think, idk if that’s what people are still using nowindays, it also takes the vpn slot to install apps. you need a specific vpn app that’s on the app store.
Idk if this was very useful, specially after 13h but yea.
Between Google taking a dump all over Android and this, I might actually switch to iOS after being an Android user for almost 20 years.
Haha and here I am thinking about switching to graphene os. Although I’m reasonably happy with that iPhone. At least Apple is pretending to care about privacy and it is very clear from the start on what it can and can’t do. Biggest grieve for me is the keyboard, hate it and for some reason there are not many alternatives.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about Graphene too. Might pick up that new Motorola coming out.
SwiftKey is the only good keyboard on either OS, which sucks because it’s owned by Microsoft. I might be biased though, I’ve been using it for nearly a decade and a half.
Sideloading Heliboard or Futo are often overlooked options.
I made the switch a while ago and I’m much happier with the result. It’s far from perfect, but it’s free from the jankiness and random bullshit that comes with a Google product. At least you know what you’re getting with Apple. And the hardware is far superior and is supported for a long time.
Honestly it’s not as bad as people make it out to be and it’s also worse all at the same time. The gestures are awful, the animations take too long even if you reduce them and the keyboard has autocorrupt with the added bonus of not registering input properly. The three main positives for me are: the battery (on standby time), video/camera are very good, and the shortcuts app which enables you to create things that are missing in iOS.
Oh and certain apps do get preferential treatment on iOS but the open source space is quite barren compared to Android.
My only complaint about Orion was that it wasn’t open source so that’s good at least
why did they build from scratch instead of contributing to Firefox?
WebKit is not starting from scratch. It goes back to KHTML which was started by KDE for their web browser back in the 90s. Apple built Safari on top of KHTML, forking the engine and creating @[email protected]. WebKit continues as an open source project, with native web integration in GNOME running through @[email protected]. Ironically KDE and Konqueror stopped using WebKit, using Chromium these days. But WebKit is, at least to a degree, a natural choice for anyone interested in making an independent browser for GNOME or Mac OS.
Blink, the engine behind Chromium, is forked from WebKit, but it’s monopolizing the internet and is generally worth avoiding. I don’t think anyone is able to separate Gecko from Firefox, so a Gecko-based browser would just be a Firefox fork. Meanwhile @[email protected] competes directly with the KHTML family of browser engines by being more flexible, but it’s not ready for serious use yet. Once Servo is ready I suspect we will se a lot of independent browsers popping up.
Contributing to Firefox doesn’t make much sense these days. Mozilla, or at least Firefox, runs their own ship and have turned their back on the open source community. Those concerned about the open web are getting increasingly worried that Mozilla is not going to do a whole lot to counter Google’s influence, leaving it to Google to take the internet and destroy it in any way they see fit. If Mozilla does not fight for us any more the only thing we can do is to double down on independent engines such as WebKit and Servo.
Firefox is incredibly complicated. It has a ton of bugs and security problems. Instead of building from scratch, I would start with Servo.
I think this is the right move. They started on MacOS. They expanded to Linux and Win for reasons that were unclear (to me). If they can’t keep all three going, open-sourcing the code is appropriate. If people want to keep going, awesome. If not, well… And they refocus their resources to the platform that they presumably consider their primary home, else they wouldn’t have started with MacOS first.
I have Orion installed and occasionally use it. But I’m also a browser junky and can’t resist trying every new browser I read about. (I’m posting this from the recently announced Search browser and it’s using impressively low system resources. I recommend test driving it if you’re curious. I’m not affiliated in any way).
If i wanted a Webkit based browser on Linux, Gnome Web (aka, Epiphany) it is.
I’ve started using Gnome Web as my main browser, and I’m super happy with it. I’ve been trying it occasionally for years, and only the last month or so does it feel mature enough to replace firefox.
I guess I have the advantage that I mostly avoid bloated websites, but still. For anyone looking to escape the web engine duopoly Gnome Web is very much worth checking out these days.
i dont use it as a main browser cause no extensions
Yeah, that’s fair. I still occasionally boot up Firefox just to click the Zotero button. For the most part though the built-in ad blocker and cookie blocker do what I need.
Weirdly enough It’s FOSS wrote about support for Firefox extensions in GNOME Web several years ago, but I have no idea what became of that feature.
while i am using Steam i use the built in Steam browser(Chromium),Firefox when Steam is closed and Gnome WEB when i am using a local tool only site.
I tried them out and there is no version of any universe where I would pay a monthly fee to use a browser. What an idiot idea that is.
So, DDG is is!
yeah, it’s free. Kagi search costs money, but the browser doesn’t cost anything.
Okay. Here comes my ignorance, but what’s the difference? The browser is what searches the internet. No?
Ladybird if anyone wants to watch this space, I’m most excited to see them succeed.
Ladybird is a new browser engine built from scratch. Not a fork. No user monetization. Backed by a 501©(3) non-profit. Status: In active development Target: Alpha 2026 (Linux & macOS) Get involved Support us About
The web is the most important platform in computing, yet only a small number of browser engines power the entire thing, each controlled by a company with its own agenda.
Ladybird is building something new: an independent engine, driven by web standards, and free from conflicts of interest.
Our first Alpha release for Linux and macOS is coming in 2026.
What makes Ladybird different Truly independent
We’re building a new browser engine from scratch, based on web standards. Not a fork of an existing engine. Singular focus
We are focused on one thing: building a web browser. No monetization
No “default search deals”, crypto tokens, or other forms of user monetization.
Why are so many people in FOSS weird fascists?
Weird fascists are overrepresented in tech + some FOSS communities have a weird sense of what it means to be “apolitical” (e.g. “being apolitical means I have to ignore that this guy is racist” type shit)
FOSS also atracts in general a lot of radicals, from all sides, as they all see it as anti establishment, as it goes well with their general anti establishment rethoric and often as a politcal stance to support FOSS as a form fighting against or acting against or just generally dissent against the establishment
Good. I use and love Kagi, but they are spread way too thin
they are spread way too thin
So they focus on macOS, the least used platform?
I’m not in favor of Windows exclusive applications but if you only have the resources to focus on one platform, use the one with most users.
As for the Linux version: Looked like yet another Gnome Web knockoff. A WebKit browser whose GUI actually works well on Plasma and other non-Gnome desktops would be welcome but another one of those isn’t a benefit IMO
They should also drop the Mac and iPhone versions, it seems a waste of time and money.
I use the iOS version for the built-in uBO.
You pay monthly to have a browser?
We should all be doing that if we wanted the browsers to not be shit, but alas, there’s no paid option for any browser I know of.
There’s a force paid option for Kagi. Pay, or it doesn’t work. So I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I don’t understand why people throw a shitfit about YouTube ads and streaming ads- while simultaneously defending a paid browser.
It’s free though? Kagi the search engine is paid, Orion the browser is free. There’s still no paid browser that I’m aware of.
The problem with YouTube isn’t that it has ads, it’s that it ran at a loss for well over a decade and THEN started putting ads everywhere, increasing the amount every few months. If your service is only profitable with a ton of ads, put those ads there right away. The enshittification once you have a captive audience through the network effect is what sucks. We could have competitors and that would improve the quality for everyone, but Google sank billions into making sure nobody is using anything but YouTube and THEN started bombarding us with ads. That’s quite literally billions of dollars spent on making the market worse.
