--- title: Kagi stops developing Orion for Linux and Windows,... description: Kagi is discontinuing its own development of the Orion browser for Linux and Windows, redirecting its small team to focus solely on macOS and iOS. The Linux... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/kagi-stops-developing-orion-for-linux-and-windows-open-sources-both-ports-omuz35mrh twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Kagi stops developing Orion for Linux and Windows, open-sources both ports | daily.dev og:description: Kagi is discontinuing its own development of the Orion browser for Linux and Windows, redirecting its small team to focus solely on macOS and iOS. The Linux... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/kagi-stops-developing-orion-for-linux-and-windows-open-sources-both-ports-omuz35mrh og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/omuZ35MRH.png og:image:alt: Kagi stops developing Orion for Linux and Windows, open-sources both ports og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Kagi stops developing Orion for Linux and Windows, open-sources both ports **[Collections](https://daily.dev/sources/collections)** · 1 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Kagi is discontinuing its own development of the Orion browser for Linux and Windows, redirecting its small team to focus solely on macOS and iOS. The Linux public beta will stop receiving updates, security patches, and bug fixes after October 2, 2026, and the planned Windows release will no longer come from Kagi. Both codebases will be open-sourced, with Kagi reaching out to open-source foundations and inviting developers or organizations to take over long-term maintenance. The company cited limited resources as the reason, preferring to focus deeply on two platforms rather than spread thin across four. ## Content Kagi is ending its own development of the Orion browser on Linux and Windows. The company will open-source both codebases and put its small team on Orion for macOS and iOS. The Linux public beta launched earlier this year. It will stop receiving updates after October 2, 2026, and Kagi will no longer ship security patches or bug fixes for it. The Windows version was still a work in progress, and the planned release will not come from Kagi. Kagi's stated reason is size. Building a cross-platform browser usually takes either venture capital or a large open-source community behind it, and Kagi has neither. With a small team and limited resources, it chose to do two platforms well instead of four badly. The open-sourcing is meant to give the free and open-source community a chance to pick the work up. Kagi has contacted open-source foundations about long-term stewardship of the code. It is also inviting individual developers or organizations to take over maintenance. For Linux users on the beta, the practical upshot is that the browser works for now but has no future from Kagi. Whether it survives depends on someone else stepping in. ## Questions this post answers ### Is Kagi still developing the Orion browser for Linux? No, Kagi has stopped its own development of Orion for Linux and will no longer ship security patches or bug fixes for it. The Linux public beta, launched earlier, will stop receiving updates after October 2, 2026. Kagi is open-sourcing the codebase and has contacted open-source foundations about long-term stewardship, inviting outside developers to take over maintenance. _Developers tracking the Orion browser's future on Linux can follow stewardship updates via daily.dev._ ### What happened to the Orion browser for Windows? Kagi will not release its own Windows version of Orion; the port was still a work in progress and the planned release will not come from Kagi. Instead, the Windows codebase is being open-sourced alongside the Linux one, with Kagi focusing its small team exclusively on the macOS and iOS versions going forward. _Anyone weighing browser options across platforms can track changes like this one on daily.dev._ ### Why did Kagi stop developing Orion for Linux and Windows? Kagi cited limited size and resources: building a cross-platform browser typically requires either venture capital or a large open-source community, and Kagi has neither. Rather than supporting four platforms poorly, the small team chose to focus deeply on two, macOS and iOS, while open-sourcing the Linux and Windows codebases for the community to potentially maintain. _Developers evaluating small-team open-source sustainability stories can follow outcomes like this on daily.dev._ ## Community take How the wider developer community reacted, aggregated from 2 discussions and 230 comments across hackernews, lobsters (as of 2026-10-04). **TL;DR:** Reaction is mostly resigned acceptance rather than outrage: many never understood Orion's niche or found it buggy/unstable, while a smaller group values it for extensions, ad-blocking, or being a non-Chromium, non-Safari option on Apple devices; most agree focusing on macOS/iOS makes sense given the team's small size. **Sentiment:** 20% positive · 45% mixed · 35% skeptical **The case for** - Some found genuine value in Orion for Chrome-extension support on iOS, ad blocking, and better performance than Safari. - Several think narrowing focus to macOS/iOS is a sensible, sustainable move for a small team. - Open-sourcing the Linux/Windows code is seen as a reasonable way to let the community carry it forward. **The pushback** - Many never understood what distinct niche Orion filled versus Firefox, Brave, or Safari. - Several report the desktop/iOS experience was buggy, unstable, or had broken extension support (e.g., 1Password). - Some argue open-sourcing only the Linux/Windows code while keeping macOS closed leaves the orphaned ports without a reference implementation, making them effectively dead on arrival. - A few are losing confidence in Kagi more broadly, citing unreliable search results and spreading into too many products. **By community** - hackernews (mixed): Discussion splits between people confused about Orion's purpose or burned by its bugs, and a vocal minority who valued specific features, with general agreement that refocusing on macOS/iOS is pragmatic. - lobsters (skeptical): Commenters question whether a small team can sustain a browser at all and suggest the real motivation (bypassing Safari's search engine restrictions) undercuts the case for Windows/Linux support. **Hottest debate:** Whether open-sourcing only the Linux/Windows code while keeping macOS proprietary leaves the abandoned ports viable or effectively dead. **Open questions** - Will any organization or community actually step up to maintain the Linux/Windows codebases long-term? - Why doesn't Safari simply allow custom search engines, removing much of the original motivation for Orion? - Will Kagi eventually abandon the macOS/iOS version too given resourcing concerns? **Highlights** > Afaict the niche they attempted to fill is the one Firefox already fills on desktop, a highly customizable browser with extension support. (Firefox does not support extensions on iOS, apparently has no plans to do so, and as I understand the support is somewhat limited on Android as well). I switched for about a year because they delivered what seemed like a serious effort at that with their initial release. After seeing basically zero effort at addressing very fundamental bugs in that support in that year, I switched back. As far as I’m concerned their battle is already lost. The iOS codebase is the only one that potentially has any value to the OSS community; this kind of "enjoy our garbage!" source release really irks me. > — [ghostly\_s on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49945475) > I don't understand the decision to open source the Linux and Windows ports, but not the MacOS version. They should have moved their Orion development into the open, and said we're not going to support Linux and Windows going forward. Then someone else could have picked up the task of keeping the Linux and Windows forks in sync with their MacOS work. > — [arppacket on hackernews · 1 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49942243) > And the motivation to maintain Orion on Windows and Linux does't exist. My understanding is that the reason for Orion to exist is that, on Safari (both desktop and web), it is impossible to use a custom search engine. There's a dropdown to select among Google, Yandex, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, and Ecosia. And Kagi isn't on that list. So, on Mac and iOS, they need a browser just to make the search work in the address bar! For that matter: * Why isn't it possible to install a custom search engine in Safari? * Why Kagi isn't on the built-in list? > — [matklad on lobsters · 3 points, 1 comments](https://lobste.rs/s/xruas8/update_on_orion_for_linux_windows#c_k2qyuj) > It's ironic (and sad) that they'd both abandon it and open source it at the same time — open sourcing a browser is key step in expecting it to gain any adoption on Linux, but abandoning it kinda kills motivation for anyone to contribute. As other said: the target audience of the Linux version was never clear. > — [WhyNotHugo on hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49945606) > As ex-Kagi subscribers, I could no longer see the value in paying $10, as the results weren’t significantly different from those on my self-hosted SearXNG. > — [BOOSTERHIDROGEN on hackernews · 1 comments](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49943245) **Source threads** - [hackernews](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49941447) · 185 points · 226 comments - [lobsters](https://lobste.rs/s/xruas8/update_on_orion_for_linux_windows) · 13 points · 4 comments ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Orion Browser by Kagi](https://daily.dev/posts/orion-browser-by-kagi-9fs1r5phq) · Hacker News · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Orion Browser Releases Its First Linux Alpha](https://daily.dev/posts/orion-browser-releases-its-first-linux-alpha-ebmtg2y2v) · omg\! ubuntu\! · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Orion for Linux adds a content blocker and download manager](https://daily.dev/posts/orion-for-linux-adds-a-content-blocker-and-download-manager-sriqcgsjt) · omg\! ubuntu\! · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Orion for Linux beta updated with private browsing and link previews](https://daily.dev/posts/orion-for-linux-beta-updated-with-private-browsing-and-link-previews-xzg5nx4ju) · omg\! ubuntu\! · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#linux](https://daily.dev/tags/linux), [#browsers](https://daily.dev/tags/browsers) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/kagi-stops-developing-orion-for-linux-and-windows-open-sources-both-ports-omuz35mrh) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Kagi stops developing Orion for Linux and Windows, open-sources both ports","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/kagi-stops-developing-orion-for-linux-and-windows-open-sources-both-ports-omuz35mrh","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/kagi-stops-developing-orion-for-linux-and-windows-open-sources-both-ports-omuz35mrh"},"datePublished":"2026-10-04T14:27:55.502Z","dateModified":"2026-10-04T21:53:28.691Z","description":"Kagi is discontinuing its own development of the Orion browser for Linux and Windows, redirecting its small team to focus solely on macOS and iOS. 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