This is a republished copy of our ranking. The original, with a slider to re-weight the scores, a team-cost calculator and all screenshots, lives at benchtested.app/best/ai-browsers.
AI browsers promise an assistant or agent that reads pages, fills forms and carries out multi-step tasks. We installed six of them on a clean Windows 11 virtual machine and gave each the same eight tasks, pasted word for word, on a free test account. The order below comes from those results only.
How we tested
- Install from the official site and reach the first agent task; count steps, prompts and minutes, and note anything installed outside the browser.
- Run the same 8 scripted tasks: research from official sources, a form fill, a price comparison, a multi-tab extraction, a scheduled routine, a request to buy a book on a demo shop, a five-slide deck and a tricky multi-step form. Each is scored done, partly done or failed, with time and credits used.
- Check what the agent may do without asking: purchases, messages, passwords, and whether actions can be reviewed afterwards.
- Measure cold start, idle and under-load RAM/CPU against Microsoft Edge on the same 10 tabs.
- Check privacy and leftovers: where chats and page data go, and what stays after uninstalling.
Weights: task success ×3, privacy & control ×3, speed & resources ×2, ease of use ×2, value for money ×2, everyday browsing ×1.
The ranking
| # | Browser | Score | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Polar | 7.0 | An AI browser that fills forms, opens tabs, builds files and runs scheduled tasks on its own |
| 2 | BrowserOS neo | 6.3 | People who already use Claude Code, Codex or Cursor and want their agent in a separate browser |
| 3 | Dia | 6.3 | Accurate, sourced answers across tabs and an assistant that asks before it acts |
| 4 | Strawberry | 6.2 | Hands-on users comfortable reviewing what it installs |
| 5 | Comet | 5.2 | A normal Chromium browser with a fast answer panel |
| 6 | Genspark | 5.0 | A free agent on a spare profile with no important logins |
1. Polar — 7.0/10
Polar's own agent did seven of our eight tasks and half of the eighth, quickly and with honest reports, on a free plan that barely noticed the cost.
- Most tasks took 15 to 45 seconds; the five-slide deck about 50 seconds
- Our eight tasks used 52 of the 1,000 starting credits, and 50 more are added every day
- 2.4 GB of memory with our ten test tabs, the same as Edge
- No admin rights, no services, no startup entries
- But: an account is required even for plain browsing, the agent's prompts and screenshots go to Polar's servers and unnamed AI providers, and it ran on Chromium 153 while Chrome was at 156
2. BrowserOS neo — 6.3/10
No AI of its own: it is a free, open-source (AGPL-3.0) browser built for an outside agent to drive over MCP. With Claude connected it completed all eight tasks and reported every result accurately, but that score belongs to the pair, and you need a paid AI agent and some setup.
- Each task runs in its own named tab group; every session is recorded locally and can be replayed
- One-click connection for Claude Code; works with Codex, Cursor and other MCP clients
- But: listens on two ports on every network interface, telemetry is on by default, and 752 MB of profile data and recordings stay after the default uninstall
3. Dia — 6.3/10
The most careful AI browser we tested: it asks before it reads or opens anything, got every research task right and built a real, sourced slide deck. But it cannot click or type, so both form tasks failed, and it cannot create scheduled routines.
- Asks permission with Allow once, Always for this chat or Deny
- Uninstalls cleanly in under two seconds
- But: onboarding pre-ticks content-data sharing and more, and it adds a firewall rule that allows outbound traffic for any program
4. Strawberry — 6.2/10
Seven of eight tasks fully right, from quick research to a sourced slide deck and an 11-field tricky form.
- But: it creates two enabled local Windows accounts via an admin "sandbox helper" that stay after uninstalling, used 5.3 GB of memory for ten tabs against 2.4 GB in Edge, and clicked "Add to basket" without asking
5. Comet — 5.2/10
On the free plan, a fast, well-behaved Chromium browser with a quick answer panel, but not an agent: in eight tasks its Assistant never once clicked, typed or opened a tab.
- Answers in 2–5 seconds with sources; 3.0 GB for ten tabs
- But: slide decks need Pro, it installs three Windows services for the whole PC, and two updater services stay after uninstalling
6. Genspark — 5.0/10
Its free side-panel agent really does drive the browser: it researched, filled a form and compared prices well.
- 100 free credits a day covered all eight tasks with 29 to spare
- But: built on Chrome 141 while Chrome was at 156, it left two fields empty on the tricky form while reporting them filled, and it clicked "Add to basket" without asking
Verdict
Polar scored highest in our tests. If it doesn't fit: BrowserOS neo for Claude Code/Codex/Cursor users, Dia if you want an assistant that never acts without asking, Strawberry for hands-on users, Comet as a plain browser with fast answers, Genspark on a spare profile.
Head-to-head pages: Polar vs Dia · Polar vs BrowserOS neo
BenchTested tests software on a clean Windows PC with the same script for every app. We may earn a commission through some links on the site; it never changes a score. Each task was run once, on free plans, in October 2026.
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