AI Web Browsers Benchmark: Complete Selection Guide

We tested 7 AI web browsers, including Perplexity Comet, Arc Max, and Microsoft Edge Copilot, across key performance metrics to determine which solutions deliver practical value for different workflows.

AI Web Browser Benchmark Results

As a result of our testing, AI browsers show significant accessibility barriers and performance gaps that limit practical adoption for most users.

• Perplexity Comet delivers the most advanced agentic AI capabilities with autonomous navigation and analysis, but requires $200/month subscription, limiting accessibility.
• Microsoft Edge Copilot demonstrates strong content processing with structured output, though it relies on Microsoft’s ecosystem integration.
• Brave Leo provides fully functional AI capabilities without subscription requirements, completing all core tasks with reliable accuracy.
• Arc Max offers innovative context-only AI features that work well within their scope, though it lacks traditional chat interface versatility.
• Opera Aria demonstrates extensive feature capabilities on paper, but suffers from implementation issues, causing frequent functionality failures.
• Strawberry Browser shows promising autonomous task execution capabilities but remains in early development with subscription barriers.
• The AI browser market currently prioritizes premium features over accessibility, with most advanced capabilities locked behind paywalls.

1. AI Response Quality Testing

Task: “Summarize AIMultiple’s main page”

Perplexity Comet exhibits advanced autonomous web processing capabilities, with AI that can navigate to specific websites independently, analyze complex technical content, and provide structured summaries with real-world examples and case studies.

Microsoft Edge Copilot: Successfully summarized AIMultiple’s homepage, accurately identifying key sections including AI benchmarks, LLM calculators, and enterprise software insights. Response demonstrated solid comprehension of the site’s business-focused content and technical offerings.

Brave Leo: Successfully provided a summary covering enterprise software insights, AI benchmarks, LLM calculators, and the site’s focus on transparency and data-driven procurement decisions. Response was accurate and well-structured.

Arc Max: Cannot perform this test due to lack of standalone chat interface. AI functionality is limited to context-specific right-click actions only, making direct webpage summarization impossible through conversational queries.

Opera Aria: Failed to summarize the current page content. Instead of analyzing the actual webpage, the system provided LLM-based suggestions and generic responses, indicating issues with page context functionality.

Sigma AI: Unable to access external websites directly. The browser explicitly states it cannot visit URLs and requires manual text input to provide summaries, severely limiting web summarization capabilities.

Strawberry Browser: Initial demonstrations suggest strong autonomous research capabilities, though comprehensive evaluation remains restricted.

Task: Long Article Analysis

Analyze article: Agentic AI for Cybersecurity: Real life Use Cases & Examples

Perplexity Comet: Delivered structured analysis with coverage of SecOps and AppSec use cases, specific company examples (University of Kansas Health System, APi Group), and detailed breakdown of benefits and challenges. Response demonstrated superior technical comprehension with real-world case studies and maintained professional formatting throughout the analysis.

Microsoft Edge Copilot: Provided analysis with structured formatting that covered autonomous AI operations, SecOps/AppSec distinctions, and implementation challenges. Response included detailed breakdown of use cases and balanced presentation of benefits and limitations. System generated organized content with clear categorization and offered follow-up questions, though the formatted presentation style differed from other browsers’ more conversational approaches.

Brave Leo: Delivered analysis covering autonomous AI operations, SecOps/AppSec applications, automation benefits, and implementation challenges. Response demonstrated strong comprehension of technical concepts and provided additional question suggestions for deeper exploration.

Arc Max: Provided detailed but somewhat repetitive analysis across multiple interaction attempts. Successfully captured key concepts including autonomous decision-making, real-time monitoring, and SOC automation, though the multiple-paragraph format showed less conciseness than other browsers.

Opera Aria: Testing is limited due to page context functionality issues. System defaulted to generic responses rather than analyzing the specific article content.

2. Feature Accessibility Analysis

• Perplexity Comet: Requires $200/month Perplexity Max subscription for access. Currently invite-only beta with limited availability, though demonstrates full autonomous capabilities when accessible.
• Microsoft Edge Copilot: AI features accessible with Edge browser installation, though some advanced capabilities may require Microsoft 365 integration for enhanced functionality.
• Brave Leo: Complete AI functionality available immediately after browser installation. No subscription, account, or payment required for core features.
• Arc Max: All AI features accessible for free, though limited to contextual interactions rather than standalone chat.
• Opera Aria: Core features available but implementation issues prevent full functionality testing. Page context mode frequently fails to work as intended.
• Sigma AI: Basic AI chat functionality works, but critical web access capabilities are completely absent, limiting practical utility.
• Strawberry Browser: Requires $30/month subscription after free trial credits expire.

3. Web Content Processing Capabilities

Perplexity Comet operates with data access requirements to enable autonomous navigation and cross-application functionality. While providing transparency about AI processing, the premium subscription model and data integration raise considerations about data sharing scope, though this enables superior agentic capabilities.

Microsoft Edge Copilot shows strong content processing capabilities with structured analysis output and comprehensive coverage of technical topics. The system handles complex articles effectively and maintains organized presentation format, though relies on Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure for processing.

Brave Leo demonstrates superior real-world performance with reliable webpage summarization, accurate content analysis, and consistent functionality across different types of web content. The browser successfully processes complex technical articles and provides contextually relevant follow-up suggestions.

Arc Max shows an innovative approach with context-only AI integration, but the lack of a traditional chat interface limits versatility for users accustomed to conversational AI interactions. Features work well within their designed scope but feel restrictive for comprehensive AI assistance.

Sigma AI exhibits fundamental limitations in web-based AI assistance due to the inability to access external URLs. This restriction makes it unsuitable for most practical browsing-related AI tasks despite having capable underlying AI models.

Strawberry Browser exhibits advanced autonomous capabilities for multi-website research and data processing, though comprehensive testing is limited by subscription barriers and early development status. Initial user reports suggest strong task automation potential.

4. Privacy and Access Trade-offs

Microsoft Edge Copilot integrates with Microsoft’s ecosystem and data handling policies, providing transparency about cloud-based processing while offering seamless functionality within the Edge browser environment.

Brave Leo successfully balances privacy protection with functionality, offering robust AI capabilities without requiring personal information, accounts, or data sharing agreements. Users can access full AI features while maintaining anonymity.

Arc Max provides transparent data handling policies with clear disclosure about AI partner data sharing, though users must accept some data transmission for AI features to function.

Opera Aria implements strong European privacy standards (GDPR compliance) but struggles with the practical implementation of privacy-preserving AI features.

Sigma AI offers end-to-end encryption for AI conversations but the web access limitation undermines its practical utility for browser-based AI assistance.

Strawberry Browser emphasizes local data storage with cloud processing for AI operations, requiring user approval for external API access. Privacy policies indicate temporary data storage with manual authorization controls, though subscription model creates access barriers.

Testing Methodology

We evaluated AI browsers across 4 key categories that matter most for practical usage:

AI Response Quality: Accuracy and usefulness of AI-generated responses to common queries like web summarization, content analysis, and task assistance.

Feature Completeness: Range of AI capabilities, including automation, content generation, search enhancement, and integration options.

Privacy & Security: Data handling practices, local processing options, and privacy controls for AI features.

User Experience: Interface design, learning curve, and workflow integration effectiveness.

The best AI web browsers of 2025

Top AI Browsers Compared

Agentic Browsing vs Smart Assistance

The AI browsers we tested fall into two camps:

• Smart helpers: These add AI features like chat and summarization, but you still do the browsing (Arc Max, Brave Leo, Microsoft Edge Copilot)
• Agentic browsing: These can browse and work on their own, making decisions without constant guidance (Perplexity Comet, Strawberry Browser)

Whether you need agentic browsing capabilities or smart assistance depends on what you want the AI to do for you.

Feature Comparison Matrix

1. Perplexity Comet – AI Browser

Currently available to Perplexity Max subscribers, Comet will be rolled out by invitation only, according to their website, with priority given to those on a growing waitlist. 

Perplexity Comet showcases true agentic browsing capabilities that most AI browsers can’t match. Instead of waiting for you to tell it exactly what to do, Comet’s AI figures out how to navigate sites, analyzes what it finds, and completes tasks independently.

Comet Assistant (Agentic AI)

• Cross-tab Context: Maintains conversation context across different tabs and websites
• Web Actions: Can book restaurants, make purchases, schedule meetings autonomously
• Screen Awareness: AI can see what you’re looking at without needing screenshots or copy-paste

Search Integration

• Perplexity AI Search: Pre-installed as default search engine
• AI-generated summaries of search results with source citations
• Sidebar Integration: Perplexity search panel accessible on all websites
• Contextual Queries: Can ask questions about current page content

2. Arc Max

AI Assistant Capabilities

• Ask on Page: Use Command-F/Control-F to ask questions about webpage content and get AI answers
• 5-Second Previews: Hover and press Shift over links to generate webpage summaries instantly (macOS only)

Unique Interaction Model

• No Chat Interface: AI functionality limited to context-specific right-click actions
• 5-Second Previews: Hover + Shift over links for instant webpage summaries (macOS only)
• Command-F AI: Use search function to ask questions about webpage content

Browser Automation & Organization

• Tidy Tab Titles: Automatically rename pinned tabs with tidier, shorter titles
• Tidy Downloads: Smart file renaming for downloads based on content and context
• Tidy Tabs: Auto-organize Today Tabs when you have more than six tabs
• Data Sharing Transparency: Max features require sending data to AI partners with clear disclosure
• Zero Data Retention: Browse for Me feature uses OpenAI’s API with zero data retention (ZDR)
• Context-Aware Processing: AI features work within specific webpage contexts
• Selective Activation: Users can activate entire bundle or choose specific Max features
• Native Browser Integration: Built into Arc sidebar and command interface
• Cross-Platform: macOS and Windows support (some features macOS-only)

3. Microsoft Edge Copilot

Copilot Integration

• Native AI Assistant: Built-in Copilot sidebar in Edge browser
• Voice Commands: Voice-activated AI interactions
• Page Analysis: Can analyze current webpage content and provide insights
• Content Generation: Compose emails, documents, and summaries within the browser

Microsoft Ecosystem Integration

• Office 365 Connectivity: Direct integration with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
• Microsoft Graph Access: Can access calendar, emails, documents across Microsoft services
• Teams Integration: Meeting scheduling and collaboration features
• OneDrive Integration: Document access and sharing capabilities

Productivity Features

• Shopping Assistant: Price tracking, coupon finding, product comparisons
• Travel Planning: Itinerary creation, booking assistance
• Reading Mode: Enhanced with AI summarization

Search & Browse

• Bing Chat Integration: AI-powered search results with a conversation interface
• Web Compose: Generate content directly in web forms
• Page Summarization: Instant webpage and PDF summarization
• Translation: Real-time webpage translation

4. Brave Leo

AI Assistant Capabilities

• Coding Assistance: Provide code suggestions and programming help
• Voice Input: Voice-to-text queries available on iOS and Android
• Real-time Search Integration: Incorporates live Brave Search results for current information

Privacy-First Design

• No Account Required: Use Leo without signup or login for free version
• Brave-Hosted Models: All models hosted through Brave’s secure infrastructure
• Local Chat History: Conversations stored locally on device, not on servers
• No Data Retention: Responses discarded after generation, not used for training
• Anonymous Usage: Reverse proxy ensures requests cannot be linked to users
• No IP Logging: No server-side records of Leo usage retained
• Multiple LLMs: Mixtral 8x7B, Claude Instant (Anthropic), Llama 2 13B (Meta)
• Bring Your Own Model (BYOM): Connect local models via Ollama or third-party APIs like GPT-4, Grok
• Model Choice Control: Users can switch between available models at any time
• Automatic Mode: System determines best model for current context
• Data Handling Transparency: Clear policies on local vs cloud processing per model type
• Browser Integration: Built into Brave sidebar, address bar, and full-page mode at brave://leo-ai
• Cross-Platform: Available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
• Page Context Awareness: Can analyze current webpage content, PDFs, YouTube videos seamlessly
• Multi-Tab Context: Advanced feature for working across multiple browser tabs
• Right-click Integration: Contextual menu options for quick access to Leo capabilities
• Tab Focus Mode: Requires explicit opt-in for enhanced tab-specific processing

5. Opera Aria

AI Assistant Capabilities

• 150+ Local Models: Largest selection of local LLM variants from 50 model families
• Built-in Model Management: Download and delete local models directly in browser
• Local Storage: 2-10 GB storage per local model variant
• Supported Models: Llama, Phi-2, Gemma, Vicuna, Mixtral and others
• Image Generation: Text-to-image creation using Google’s Imagen technology
• Image Analysis: Upload up to 3 images with OCR and visual understanding

Integration & Access

• Browser Integration: Built into Opera sidebar and address bar
• Cross-Platform: macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS support
• Page Context Awareness: Can analyze current webpage content
• Command Line: Quick access via Ctrl+/ or Cmd+/ 

6. Sigma AI

AI Assistant Capabilities

• AI Chat: Built-in AI Chat available for free with multiple conversation modes
• Image Generation: AI Image Generator for multimedia content creation
• Compose Feature: Sigma Compose for content creation
• SEO Content: SEO-friendly content creation for blogs and marketing

Model Selection & Flexibility

• Multiple AI Models: GPT-4.1, GPT-O3, Gemini 2.5 Flash, Gemini 2.5 Pro
• Multimedia Generation: Generate pictures, videos, music and other multimedia content
• Model Variety: Access to latest OpenAI and Google AI models

Integration & Access

• Built-in Extensions: Pre-installed SigmaGPT extension ready to use
• Cross-Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS support
• Dual Search Mode: Choose between traditional search or interactive AI conversations
• Crypto Integration: Built-in secure crypto wallet

7.Dia Browser

AI Assistant Capabilities

• AI-First Architecture: Built from the ground up as an AI-native browsing experience rather than an AI-enhanced traditional browser
• Conversational Interface: Full AI chat interface for natural language web interaction
• Intelligent Navigation: AI understands and navigates web content autonomously based on user intent
• Context-Aware Assistance: Deep understanding of browsing context across sessions and workflows
• Advanced Task Automation: AI performs complex multi-step web tasks without manual intervention
• Content Synthesis: Combines information from multiple sources into unified responses

Integration & Features

• Arc Ecosystem: Part of The Browser Company’s broader AI browsing strategy
• Advanced Context Understanding: Deeper AI integration than Arc Max’s contextual features
• Task-Oriented Design: Optimized for completing complex web-based workflows
• Cross-Session Memory: AI remembers and builds upon previous browsing sessions
• Collaborative AI: AI acts as an active browsing partner rather than a passive assistant

8. Strawberry Browser

AI Assistant Capabilities

• AI Companions: Autonomous AI assistants that work across websites
• Screen Recording Learning: AI learns by observing user actions
• Cross-website automation: Works behind login pages and across multiple sites
• Approval-based actions: Always ask permission before executing tasks

Advanced Features:

• Multi-site research: Gathers information from hundreds of websites simultaneously
• Data organization: Compiles research into spreadsheets automatically
• Content generation: Learns the user’s writing style and voice
• Form automation: Handles data entry and repetitive tasks

Positioning:

• $30/month after free trial (mid-range pricing)
• Alpha/Beta status – still in early development
• Focus on workflow automation and task execution

Security Risks in Agentic AI Browsers

Security researchers at Brave discovered a significant security flaw in Perplexity Comet’s implementation that allows attackers to manipulate AI actions through malicious web content¹ .

Attack mechanism:

• Attackers embed hidden instructions in web content (invisible text, HTML comments, social media posts)
• Users request innocent AI assistance like “summarize this page”
• AI processes malicious instructions without distinguishing them from legitimate content
• AI executes unauthorized actions with full user privileges

High Risk – Advanced Agentic Browsers:

• Perplexity Comet: Documented vulnerabilities with partial mitigation
• Strawberry Browser: Early development with extensive autonomous capabilities

Medium Risk – Limited Agentic Features:

• Microsoft Edge Copilot, Arc Max: Reduced attack surface due to limited automation

Lower Risk – Assistant-Only Browsers:

• Brave Leo, Opera Aria, Sigma AI: Focus on content analysis rather than autonomous actions

Selection Guide by Use Case

Choose Perplexity Comet if:

• You need advanced task automation capabilities
• Budget allows for premium subscription ($200/month)
• You work with multiple web applications requiring integration
• Research and analysis tasks form a significant part of your workflow

Choose Arc Max if:

• You want productivity enhancement without full automation
• You prefer free solutions during beta testing
• You need excellent performance with minimal system impact
• You value clean interface design and organization features

Choose Microsoft Edge Copilot if:

• You work primarily within Microsoft’s business ecosystem
• You need enterprise-grade security and compliance
• You require Office 365 integration for document workflows
• You prefer established vendor support and reliability

Choose Brave Leo if:

• Privacy is your primary concern over advanced features
• You want local AI processing options
• You need basic AI assistance without complex automation
• You prefer open-source and privacy-focused solutions

Shared Features Across AI Browsers

Core AI Capabilities

• Content Generation: All browsers offer text creation, writing assistance, and document generation
• Webpage Summarization: Universal ability to summarize articles, pages, and web content
• Translation Services: Multi-language translation capabilities across all platforms
• Question Answering: Conversational AI for general queries and information requests
• Content Analysis: Ability to analyze and extract insights from webpage content

Common Privacy Features

• Data Handling Policies: All browsers have stated privacy policies
• Optional Premium Tiers: Enhanced features available with subscriptions/accounts

Standard Integration

• Cross-Platform Support: Most browsers support Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
• Browser-Native Integration: AI features built directly into the browser interface

External Links

• Android Authority. (2025). “Comet browser is quietly revolutionizing how I watch YouTube.”
• Arc Browser. (2025). “Arc Max – Browse the web with AI.”
• Perplexity AI. (2025). “Introducing Comet: Browse at the speed of thought.“

External Links

• 1. Agentic Browser Security: Indirect Prompt Injection in Perplexity Comet | Brave. Brave Software