Who will win the browser wars?

Published Sep 12, 2025 · Around 2 minutes to read

A few weeks ago I switched to the Dia browser from Arc. Having AI browse with you was a game changer. You had an assistant that could take action on the stuff you were working on: summarize articles, edit drafts, compare products. You didn’t have to switch between ChatGPT and your tabs.

But Dia’s UX feels clunky. It’s still in beta, I get it. But I didn’t have the “OMG, I love this” reaction that I had with Arc. Chatting with your tabs is massive, but everything else feels…ok.

I tried the Comet browser from Perplexity yesterday. I was initially hesitant to add another browser to my toolbox. But Comet is also available on Windows. Dia isn’t. So I decided to switch.

I’m impressed with how polished Comet feels. Plus the agentic browsing is pretty sweet. I asked Comet to find the cheapest flights for this winter break from Newark to Detroit (visiting in-laws) on Google Flights and only limit it to United Airlines (rewards program). It was cool seeing Comet fill out the form and search flights on my behalf. It actually got the job done. Plus I could see its reasoning as I didn’t provide details on exact dates or which exact airports. It made the correct guesses.

I'm impressed. But Comet doesn’t have split tabs.

I’m still juggling three browsers: Comet, Dia, and Arc. And there isn’t a clear winner yet. The Browser Company (makers of Dia and Arc) admitted that they might not win the browser battle. But there is a clear shift in how we browse. Having agents take over the utilitarian parts of the browser: searching, summarizing, autofilling, comparing, will make the browsing experience so much better.

Browsing without AI is like hiking in flip flops. You can do it, but it’ll be slow and painful. Agentic browsing is like putting on hiking boots.

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P.S. I’m concerned about the privacy on these browsers. They need a lot of data about you to be useful. A rogue agent could expose your personal details, like your bank account info. Ease or privacy: choose one.