Onion Browser vs Tor Browser
Onion Browser
onionbrowser.com
Tor Browser
torproject.orgSide by side
| Figure | Onion Browser | Tor Browser |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Web browsers | 7.7 (#103) | 9.1 (#10) |
| Spec score · Privacy browsers | 7.8 (#23) | 9.1 (#4) |
| Founded | 2012 | 2006 |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | The app is free and open source, and anyone may contribute, audit, or inspect its code. | Yes |
| Supported platforms | mobile | both |
| Purpose | Onion Browser is a Tor-powered browser for iOS that routes browsing traffic through the Tor network. | Tor Browser routes web traffic through the Tor network to help hide a user's real IP address and resist tracking, surveillance, and censorship. |
| Security settings | Users can adjust security for each website, and the official site says HTML5 geolocation features may be available unless Strict security mode is set. | The Standard, Safer, and Safest security levels disable or restrict browser features to varying degrees, which can cause some pages to work improperly. |
| Support | The project's GitHub help page documents common problems, suggests force-quitting and reopening for loading issues, and links to issue tracking for known bugs. | Tor Project provides a user support team and recommends its public forum for help; its support channels focus on assisting Tor users in censored regions. |
| Tracker blocking | Yes | Each website is isolated so third-party trackers and ads cannot follow the user, and cookies are cleared when the session ends. |
| Traffic scope | Only traffic within the Onion Browser app is tunneled; other network traffic on the device continues over the normal connection. | Only Tor Browser's traffic is routed over the Tor network; other applications on the device are not protected by it automatically. |
Plans
In their own words
Onion Browser
Onion Browser has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Tor Browser
Tor Browser routes its own web traffic through the Tor network to help hide a user's real IP address and resist tracking, surveillance, and censorship. Based on Mozilla Firefox ESR, it adds measures such as letterboxing, user-agent spoofing, and first-party isolation to make browser fingerprinting harder. Connections to different websites use different Tor circuits, while connections to the same website address use the same circuit. HTTPS-Only Mode upgrades connections to HTTPS where possible. Standard, Safer, and Safest security levels restrict browser features to varying degrees, which can cause some pages to work improperly. The browser can access onion services, and users in censored regions can configure bridges during setup. It is free, open-source software for Android, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Only Tor Browser traffic goes through Tor; other applications on the device are not automatically protected. The Tor Project recommends verifying download signatures and strongly discourages extra browser add-ons because they can affect privacy, security, or functionality.