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BrowserOS Review: Open-Source AI Browser With Local Ollama and LM Studio Support

·6 min readBy · Founder of PromptQuorum · Discovery engine for open-weight & open-source AI

Warning: the changelog of the original BrowserOS lists no release after version 0.46.0 of 17 June 2026, so it may be unmaintained — check it before relying on it. It is a free, open-source (AGPL-3.0) Chromium-based browser for macOS, Windows and Linux with a built-in AI assistant that can use local models through Ollama or LM Studio.

Key Takeaways

  • Maintenance: the changelog's newest entry is version 0.46.0 of 17 June 2026, about five months before this review; the shared GitHub repository was pushed to on 14 November 2026, but its releases list only BrowserOS neo builds.
  • Cost: free and open source under AGPL-3.0; no pricing page was found.
  • Platforms: macOS 13 or later, Windows and Linux; downloads come from the maker's site, and macOS also has a Homebrew cask.
  • AI: your own provider keys, local models through Ollama or LM Studio, or ChatGPT Pro and GitHub Copilot subscriptions.
  • Privacy: the policy says a local model sends no data off the device; the default AI provider is a cloud service.

📍 In One Sentence

BrowserOS is a free, open-source Chromium browser for Mac, Windows and Linux with a built-in AI assistant that can use local Ollama or LM Studio models.

💬 In Plain Terms

You browse in a normal desktop browser and ask an AI assistant about the page you are reading, using either a model running on your own computer or a cloud AI service you set up yourself.

⚠️Warning: No release in the changelog for more than three months. BrowserOS may be unmaintained: confirm it still works on your system and with your AI provider before relying on it.

📌Note: This review is based on browseros.com, its documentation, privacy policy and the GitHub repository, checked on 14 November 2026. PromptQuorum has not installed, run or benchmarked the browser, so speed, stability and answer quality are not assessed. BrowserOS neo, a separate product from the same maker, is covered only where it affects this review.

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BrowserOS is a free, open-source web browser built on Chromium for macOS, Windows and Linux, with an AI assistant built in. Its Chat Mode can use a local model through Ollama or LM Studio on your own machine or a cloud provider you configure, while its Agent Mode, which acts on web pages for you, is recommended with cloud models. This review covers what you download, where your data goes, the licence and what the sources leave unconfirmed.

BrowserOS Review: Open-Source AI Browser With Local Ollama and LM Studio Support

What Is BrowserOS?

BrowserOS is an AI-native web browser, a Chromium fork, with an assistant that can answer questions about pages and, in Agent Mode, act on them. The documentation lists three modes: Chat Mode, Agent Mode and Graph Mode, which is marked coming soon. It also lists built-in connections to services such as Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets and Notion.

The same website and GitHub repository also host BrowserOS neo (version 0.52.0, October 2026), a separate secondary browser built for AI coding agents such as Claude Code and Cursor, which the maker positions next to Chrome rather than as a replacement. This review covers the original BrowserOS, although the homepage now leads with neo. The repository README names Felafax, Inc. in its copyright line.

Get It

BrowserOS is a free download for macOS, Windows and Linux from the maker's download page; macOS can also be installed with Homebrew.

Option
How to get it
macOSBrowserOS.dmg, or brew install --cask browseros; macOS 13 or later
WindowsBrowserOS installer
LinuxBrowserOS AppImage
PhoneNo mobile version is listed
PriceFree to download; no pricing page was found
Websitebrowseros.com
Documentationdocs.browseros.com
Privacy policyPrivacy policy
Source codeGitHub, AGPL-3.0

Version reviewed: 0.46.0 (17 June 2026, from the changelog). The download files carry no version number and the GitHub releases list only BrowserOS neo builds, so confirm the installed version yourself. PromptQuorum did not download or run any installer.

Requirements

The sources give a minimum only for macOS (13 Ventura or later); the documentation sizes local models by available RAM.

macOS

What the sources say:
macOS 13 (Ventura) or later

Windows and Linux

What the sources say:
No minimum version, RAM or disk figure is given

Local AI

What the sources say:
Ollama or LM Studio installed separately; models under 5 GB suit 8 GB RAM, 10–15 GB models need 16+ GB RAM, 60+ GB models need 64+ GB RAM

Context window

What the sources say:
At least 15,000–20,000 tokens; a larger context uses more VRAM

No GPU model or VRAM amount is stated; hardware needs depend on the model you load.

How to Get Started

The steps follow the maker's documentation; PromptQuorum has not run them.

  1. 1
    Install the browser
    Why it matters: Download the installer for your system, or install the macOS Homebrew cask.
  2. 2
    Install Ollama or LM Studio and a model
    Why it matters: For Ollama, pull a model and start the server with a 20,000-token context, for example `OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH=20000 ollama serve`; for LM Studio, load a model on the Developer tab, which serves `http://localhost:1234/v1/`.
  3. 3
    Connect it in the settings
    Why it matters: Open `chrome://browseros/settings`, choose Use on the Ollama card (or on the OpenAI Compatible card with that base URL for LM Studio), enter the model ID and set the context window to at least 20,000 tokens.
  4. 4
    Plan a cloud provider for Agent Mode
    Why it matters: Agent Mode, which acts on pages for you, is where the documentation recommends Claude Opus 4.5 or another cloud model; keep a provider key ready if you want it.

Features Confirmed by the Sources

Every item below comes from the maker's documentation or repository; none has been independently tested.

  • Ad blocking. The documentation says BrowserOS supports full ad blocking with uBlock Origin and has re-enabled Manifest V2 extension support; its comparison with Chrome comes from a test the maker ran.
  • Built-in MCP server. An MCP server listens on 127.0.0.1 and exposes 53 browser automation tools; the documentation shows how to add it to Claude Code with claude mcp add --transport http browseros <mcp_url> --scope user, copying the URL from chrome://browseros/mcp.
  • Bring your own model. Listed providers include Moonshot AI, Gemini, Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock and any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, plus ChatGPT Pro and GitHub Copilot subscriptions.
  • Connected apps. The documentation lists more than 40 external services, such as Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets and Notion.
  • Chromium base. The version 0.46.0 changelog entry mentions Chromium 148, a redesigned new tab and Claude Code and Codex bundled into the assistant.

Data Flow and Privacy

The privacy policy says browsing history, cookies and visited URLs are stored locally on your computer, and that cloud sync is deactivated by default. If you switch sync on, the policy says the data is stored encrypted on BrowserOS servers that run on AWS. It also says BrowserOS collects your name, email address and your engagement with the product, and lists Segment, Mixpanel, June and Airtable as services it uses.

The default AI provider is Moonshot AI (Kimi K2.5), and the policy says prompts, messages and data you share with the AI feature are sent to that provider's servers. With your own keys, the policy says BrowserOS does not intercept, store or log the content of prompts or answers; with a locally hosted model such as Ollama or LM Studio, it says no data leaves your device. The documentation separately says your keys stay on your machine and requests go directly to the provider.

📌Note: These are the maker's statements, not audit results, and PromptQuorum has not inspected network traffic. The policy is dated 13 March 2026 and covers the BrowserOS web browser only; it does not mention BrowserOS neo.

Who Should Use It

  • Local-model tinkerers who want a Chromium browser with Ollama or LM Studio built into its settings.
  • Ad-blocking fans who want uBlock Origin and Manifest V2 extensions on a modern Chromium base.
  • Claude Code users who want a browser their agent can control through a local MCP server and who accept the access that implies.

What We Could Not Verify

  • Performance and stability. Speed, memory use, crashes and answer quality with local models are untested.
  • Agent Mode. How reliably it completes tasks, with a cloud model or any other, was not tested.
  • Maintenance of the original. The changelog shows nothing after 17 June 2026, while the repository's recent work concerns BrowserOS neo; the sources do not say whether the original will keep receiving updates.
  • Version and signing. The download files carry no version number, and no checksums or signing details for the original build were found.
  • Wording on local agents. The documentation says BrowserOS "runs AI agents locally on your machine" yet recommends cloud models for Agent Mode, so what runs on your device depends on the provider you choose.
  • Ad-blocking results. The comparison with Chrome in the documentation comes from the maker's own test and was not repeated.

Competitors and Alternatives

LastBrowser

Platforms:
Windows, Linux preview
Price / license:
Free for personal use / GPL-3.0
Key difference:
Electron-based browser with a Sidekick sidebar that can use Ollama; no macOS version
Articles about LastBrowser (1)

Page Assist

Platforms:
Chrome and Firefox extension
Price / license:
Free / MIT
Key difference:
Sidebar extension for the browser you already use; works with Ollama
Articles about Page Assist (5)

Confirm each app's current price, license and platforms on its own page before choosing.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is BrowserOS neo the same product?

No. BrowserOS neo is a separate browser for AI coding agents that the maker positions as a secondary browser next to Chrome; you bring your own AI provider keys, and it has its own privacy policy. This review covers the original BrowserOS only.

Which local models does the documentation list?

Beyond the Qwen3 4B starter, its table lists Ministral 3 3B (2.99 GB), two DeepSeek-R1 distills (4.68 and 4.92 GB), gpt-oss-20b (12.11 GB), Magistral Small (13.28 GB), Devstral Small 2 (14.12 GB) and gpt-oss-120b (63.39 GB).

How often is BrowserOS released?

The changelog shows versions 0.41.0 on 4 March, 0.42.0 on 9 March, 0.43.0 on 12 March, 0.44.0 on 20 March and 0.46.0 on 17 June 2026; version 0.45.0 does not appear, and nothing is listed after 0.46.0.

Verdict

BrowserOS is a free, AGPL-3.0 Chromium browser for Mac, Windows and Linux that connects local Ollama or LM Studio models in Chat Mode, blocks ads with uBlock Origin and exposes a local MCP server. Against that, its changelog has no entry since 17 June 2026, the default AI provider is a cloud service, the documentation says local models are not yet powerful enough for Agent Mode, the privacy policy lists several analytics services, and speed, stability and answer quality are untested. It suits people who already run Ollama or LM Studio and want to try an AI browser; treat the documentation as a declaration, not proof, and check the update status before relying on it.

Sources

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