Kagi, known for its private search engine, has officially announced the development of the Orion web browser for Linux. Previously, Orion was only available for macOS and iOS, aimed at surpassing Apple’s Safari and competing favorably with browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.
In a recent BlueSky post, Kagi expressed excitement about the launch, stating, “We’re thrilled to announce that development of the Orion Browser for Linux has officially started!” Orion is designed as a zero-telemetry browser with built-in ad and tracker blocking features. It also claims to have a lower memory footprint, faster page load speeds, and greater battery efficiency on Apple devices compared to its competitors. Furthermore, Orion supports extensions from both Chrome and Firefox.
The ability to offer similar performance on Linux is yet to be determined, as the platform presents different challenges, particularly regarding power efficiency. Kagi aims to achieve feature parity with the macOS version by the following year.
While Orion’s closed-source nature may not appeal to all Linux users—many of whom prefer open-source applications—its advancement could enhance the variety of WebKit-based browsers available in the Linux ecosystem. The GNOME Web (Epiphany) already demonstrates the potential of WebKit; however, Orion might bring additional refinement.
Kagi has initiated the process of open-sourcing many components of Orion and plans to continue this trend. The developers emphasized that properly maintaining an open-source project requires significant time and resources, appealing for community engagement via orionfeedback.org.
Those interested in the Orion browser can learn more about its macOS version on the Orion landing page or review a comprehensive FAQ. Additionally, users can sign up for updates regarding the upcoming Linux version through a dedicated email notification form.