XDA’s writer stopped opening Perplexity and Chrome tabs after a week with a browser that runs its own LLM on-device. That’s the trend worth watching in 2026: agentic AI browsers were a stunt when Comet launched, but the honest, privacy-first version turns out to be the one that never sends your prompts anywhere. We tested seven ways to do this on desktop over the last month, and picked the browsers and hybrid setups where “local” actually means local.

Two things separate this list from a straight AI browser roundup. First, none of the picks require you to trust a vendor with the contents of your tabs. Second, most of them let you swap models in and out, so the browser gets faster as your GPU does. The trade-off is setup effort: some options are one-click, others need Ollama already on your machine.

What to look for in a local-LLM AI browser

Quick comparison

App Best for OS Local model runtime Bring your own model?
Brave with Leo Mainstream, hybrid cloud + local Windows, macOS, Linux Ollama Yes
Sigma AI Browser One-click local out of the box Windows, macOS Bundled (Eclipse) Limited
Vivaldi with Page Assist Power-user Chromium + sidebar chat Windows, macOS, Linux Ollama, LM Studio Yes
Firefox with Page Assist Open-source stack, extension-first Windows, macOS, Linux Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp Yes
Zen Browser with Ollama Client Firefox fork, minimalist workspace Windows, macOS, Linux Ollama Yes
Opera One with Aria Everyday browser, optional local mode Windows, macOS, Linux Ollama (via labs) Yes
LM Studio with browser bridge Model tinkerers who want the browser to follow Windows, macOS, Linux LM Studio Yes

The apps

1. Brave with Leo, best overall pick for local AI in a mainstream browser

Brave is the shortest path from “I want to chat about the current tab” to actually doing it without pinging a cloud. Leo, Brave’s built-in AI, defaults to cloud models but has a “Bring Your Own Model” panel that points at a local Ollama endpoint. Pair it with a 7B Qwen or Llama 3.1 model and Leo answers, summarises, and rewrites entirely on your machine.

Where it falls short: Setting up local mode requires installing Ollama separately. Leo does not remember conversations across tabs and has no persistent workspace like Perplexity Comet’s Discover.

Pricing: Free. Brave Premium is only needed for cloud Leo, which is exactly what you’re avoiding here.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

Download: Brave | Ollama setup guide for Brave Leo

Bottom line: Install this first. It’s the browser that treats local models as a supported path, not a hack.

2. Sigma AI Browser, best for one-click local out of the box

Sigma AI Browser ships Eclipse, a small quantised local model, bundled inside the installer. You launch the app and the AI works, no Ollama, no model download decisions, no config file. It’s a Chromium fork with strong tracker blocking on by default, so it feels like Brave with fewer knobs.

Where it falls short: Eclipse is a small model. Complex reasoning tasks lag the 7B and 13B models you can run in Brave or Vivaldi. Model swapping is limited to what Sigma pre-approves.

Pricing: Free.

Platforms: Windows, macOS.

Download: Sigma AI Browser

Bottom line: The pick for people who want privacy-first AI in a browser without becoming Ollama users.

3. Vivaldi with Page Assist, best for Chromium power users

Vivaldi already runs a sidebar out of the box, and Page Assist slots into that sidebar as a persistent local-AI chat with the current page as context. Because Page Assist is a normal Chrome extension, it inherits Vivaldi’s tab stacks, workspaces, and command palette. The combo turns Vivaldi into the closest thing to Perplexity Comet you can run without an account.

Where it falls short: You install two things instead of one. Page Assist depends on Ollama running in the background, so it eats RAM even when the sidebar is closed.

Pricing: Free.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

Download: Vivaldi | Page Assist

Bottom line: The setup that scales. New models drop, Ollama pulls them, the sidebar keeps working.

4. Firefox with Page Assist, best open-source path

Firefox stays the browser to reach for when the whole stack should be open source. Page Assist works identically to the Vivaldi version, with a full-page chat UI at moz-extension:// in addition to the sidebar. Firefox on Linux especially benefits: LM Studio, Ollama, and llama.cpp all run natively there.

Where it falls short: Firefox’s own AI chatbot is a wrapper around cloud providers. The local story only exists via Page Assist, so if you disable extensions, the AI goes with them.

Pricing: Free.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

Download: Firefox | Page Assist for Firefox

Bottom line: The pick for anyone who wants a fully open stack, from browser through model runner to the model weights.

5. Zen Browser with Ollama Client, best minimalist Firefox fork

Zen Browser rebuilds Firefox around workspaces and a compact sidebar. Ollama Client is a lightweight extension focused on chatting with a running Ollama instance, without the extra UI Page Assist adds. If Zen’s small footprint appeals, the local AI story lines up.

Where it falls short: Zen is still maturing, so extension edge cases show up. Ollama Client covers chat but not full-page RAG the way Page Assist does.

Pricing: Free.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

Download: Zen Browser | Ollama Client

Bottom line: The pick if Firefox feels heavy and you want a browser designed around fewer, cleaner surfaces.

6. Opera One with Aria, best for keeping your everyday browser

Opera One ships Aria as its built-in AI. Aria is a cloud assistant by default, but the browser’s developer preview (Opera Labs) now exposes a local-model toggle that routes prompts through a locally running Ollama. If you already live in Opera for its workspaces, tab islands, and sidebar apps, this is the least disruptive way to add local AI.

Where it falls short: The local toggle is behind the labs flag, so it’s officially preview quality. Aria’s cloud fall-back is on by default and easy to trigger accidentally.

Pricing: Free. Opera monetises via ads and search revenue, not the AI feature.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

Download: Opera One | Opera Labs local model docs

Bottom line: The pick if Opera is already your browser and you want the AI to catch up.

7. LM Studio with browser bridge, best for people who want the browser to follow the model

LM Studio is a desktop app for downloading, chatting with, and serving local models. Its built-in OpenAI-compatible server is what turns your existing browser into a local-AI browser: point Page Assist, Ollama Client, or Continue.dev at localhost:1234 and any Chromium or Firefox browser becomes a front-end.

Where it falls short: Not a browser on its own. You still install and configure the extension. But the model UX (search, filter, quantise) is the best of any local option.

Pricing: Free for personal use, paid business tiers.

Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.

Download: LM Studio

Bottom line: Start here if you already care about picking your own model. Everything else in this list becomes a client.

How to pick the right one

Take the shortest path first: Sigma AI Browser if you want the whole thing bundled, Brave if you want a well-known browser with a supported local mode.

Once you outgrow one-click, install Ollama, then reach for Vivaldi or Firefox with Page Assist. Both scale as your GPU does, and Page Assist gets active development.

Pick Zen Browser if you like a minimalist Firefox fork and can accept some rough edges. Pick Opera One if switching browsers isn’t in scope but you want local AI regardless. Pick LM Studio as your model backend once you have opinions about quantisation and context length.

Stay on Chrome or Edge only if you’re happy sending prompts to Google or Microsoft. Neither ships a first-party local-model path in 2026.

FAQ

What is the best AI browser that runs a local LLM?

Brave with Leo pointed at a local Ollama endpoint is the mainstream pick. Sigma AI Browser bundles a smaller local model out of the box, no setup required. For the most flexibility, Vivaldi or Firefox with the Page Assist extension is what power users end up on.

Can Chrome run a local LLM?

Not natively. Chrome has Gemini Nano baked into some builds but keeps it locked to specific web APIs. To get a proper local-LLM chat inside Chrome, install the Page Assist or Ollama Client extension and run Ollama on your machine.

How much RAM does a local-LLM browser need?

A 7B model in 4-bit quantisation uses about 4 to 6 GB of RAM or VRAM. Plan for 16 GB of system memory to run that alongside a browser session, and 32 GB if you want to keep 20+ tabs open while the model is loaded.

Do local-LLM browsers work offline?

Yes for the AI features. The browser still needs internet to load web pages, but the chat, summarisation, and rewriting all work with no network, which is the point.

Which local model is best for browsing tasks?

Llama 3.1 8B and Qwen 2.5 7B are the current sweet spot for chatting with the current tab: fast enough on a mid-range GPU, smart enough for summaries and rewrites. For coding-heavy pages, DeepSeek Coder V2 Lite fits in the same footprint.