- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
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
Can this really be claimed here? They supposedly have a detailed view in your account where you can see where your money has gone to, like how much goes to AI and how much doesn’t, according to one comment.
If they don’t send money to the AI company, the money doesn’t reach that company. I feel like that makes it not fungible in this context, no?
That would only be if they charged you more on top of your subscription for the AI usage. If they send part of your sub to the AI company, and don’t reduce your usage of their non AI features, then really it’s just other people not using AI who are subsidizing the chunk kagi lost to the AI company.
If it were truly fungible they wouldn’t be providing subscriptions and it would all be usage based. Subscriptions just allow the users that don’t search as often to subsidize the power users, making Kagi come out ahead overall.
That’s what I was afraid of, until I heard about the details view.
But you’re kind of saying that the details view is pretty much bullshit? Real and actual usage numbers but with no practical significance when looking at the grand total, kind of thing?
I guess to be fair, Kagi does have two different AI components. They have their Kagi Assistant which is your bog standard AI chat interface, which does cost extra and is displayed in the details page you are talking about.
But they also have Quick Answer which is like the google AI overview that appears when you make a search. It will summarize the results for you. It auto triggers when you end your search with a ? or if you click the Quick Answer button. It can be disabled. However it does not get charged extra for, it is part of your subscription.
So its kind of both.