Best AI browsers in 2026: Chrome with Gemini, Edge, Comet, Firefox Smart Window and ChatGPT

An AI browser puts an assistant inside the browser itself, so it can read the page in front of you, compare tabs, summarise, and in some cases click through a task for you. The category shifted this year. Microsoft retired Copilot Mode in Edge, OpenAI retired its Atlas browser, and Firefox and Chrome added assistants of their own. This guide compares five options, what each does and what it costs, using the companies’ own documentation as of September 2026.

The best AI browsers at a glance

Chrome with Gemini

Google’s Chrome blog describes a Gemini 3 side panel, image editing with Nano Banana inside Chrome, and connections to Gmail, Calendar, YouTube, Maps, Shopping and Flights. Auto browse, which carries out multi-step tasks on websites, is for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the US, and asks for confirmation before actions such as purchases or posts. Google lists Personal Intelligence as coming soon.

Availability, per Google’s help page:

• Windows, Mac and Chromebook Plus, for users aged 18 and over in more than 195 countries and 50-plus languages.
• You must be signed in to Chrome, and it isn’t available in Incognito.
• Work and school accounts need an admin to turn it on, and rollout is gradual.
• On Android it is in the US.

If you’d rather not have it, see how to turn off Gemini in Chrome. For plans, see our guide to Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft said on May 13, 2026 that it is retiring Copilot Mode and building the features directly into Edge. Its blog lists:

• Free: Journeys (English markets on desktop, and US-only on mobile), tab reasoning with Copilot, Copilot Vision and Voice, long-term memory, Study and Learn mode on desktop, and a writing assistant (US only).
• Microsoft 365 subscription: Podcasts.
• Microsoft 365 Premium, US only: Browse with Copilot, formerly Copilot Actions, on Edge desktop.

To turn it off, follow our guide to turning off Copilot in Edge. See also the Copilot profile.

Perplexity Comet

Comet is Perplexity’s AI browser. Perplexity’s page says it is available for Mac, Windows, iOS and Android, and it announced that Comet is available to everyone worldwide. Comet Assistant browses with you, and Perplexity’s Email Assistant is available to Max subscribers. The iOS app arrived in March 2026, and there is a Comet Enterprise version.

Comet’s assistant has two modes worth knowing. In Search mode it doesn’t use credits, while Work mode runs Perplexity Computer, which does. We explain the credits in What is Perplexity Computer?, and the Perplexity profile covers the plans.

Firefox Smart Window

Smart Window is Firefox’s optional AI assistant, in beta. It answers questions from the current web with sources, groups related tabs and spots duplicates. You choose the model: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite from Google, Qwen3-235B from Alibaba or Mistral Small 4 from Mistral AI, or connect your own. It is rolling out in English in the US and Canada from Firefox 150, and in France from Firefox 155. For details, read our report on Smart Window adding Mistral.

It is the easiest to switch off. In Firefox 148 and later, Settings, then AI Controls, has a Block AI enhancements switch that hides current and future AI features.

The ChatGPT desktop app’s browser

OpenAI’s Atlas browser is gone: it was scheduled to stop working on August 9, 2026. OpenAI moved browser-based agentic work into the ChatGPT desktop app. Open a Work or Codex chat and open the built-in browser from the toolbar, or press Cmd+Shift+B on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+B on Windows. It uses its own browser state, works across tabs, downloads files and asks before using a new website. For the full story, read What happened to ChatGPT Atlas? and What is ChatGPT Work?.

Which AI browser should you choose?

• You use Gmail, Docs and Chrome already: Chrome with Gemini.
• You use Windows and Microsoft 365: Edge, whose main AI features are free.
• You want research help for free: Comet.
• You care about choosing the model or keeping AI optional: Firefox Smart Window.
• You want ChatGPT to do multi-step work across tabs: the ChatGPT desktop app, in Work or Codex.

Staying safe with an AI browser

1. Read every confirmation. Chrome’s auto browse asks before purchases or posts, and ChatGPT asks before using a new website. Don’t approve on autopilot.
2. Be careful with signed-in sessions. An agent acting in a browser you’re logged in to can reach your accounts, so avoid banking and other sensitive sites while it runs.
3. Treat web pages as untrusted. A page can hide instructions aimed at an AI agent, so watch what an assistant does after it reads an unfamiliar site.
4. Know how to switch it off. Check where your browser’s AI controls are before you need them.