Dark Reader for Safari vs BannerBye
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Dark Reader for Safari
This Safari extension transforms websites into dark themes, reducing eye strain and improving readability. It offers customizable brightness, contrast, and color themes, and seamlessly integrates with system dark mode. Enjoy a comfortable browsing experience, especially in low light conditions.
- Creates dark themes for websites
- Adjustable brightness and contrast
- Multiple color theme presets
- Customizable background and text colors
- Enable/disable for specific websites
- Syncs with system dark mode
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Dark Reader is an eye-care Safari extension that enables night mode by creating dark themes for websites on the fly. It inverts bright colors to make web pages high contrast and easier to read. Dark Reader integrates seamlessly with system dark mode. Adjust brightness and contrast to match your display and ambient lighting. Enable dark mode on every web page or give websites a sepia tone. Select from multiple color theme presets or create your own by customizing background and text colors. Enable or disable Dark Reader for specific websites, automatically sync with system dark mode, or detect already dark websites and leave them unchanged. Developed by the original creators of Dark Reader. Since 2014, we continuously evolve alongside modern web technologies to deliver fast and reliable dark mode support for people sensitive to bright light. A single purchase includes access to the macOS version (Safari browser) when using the same iCloud account. Dark Reader contains no ads and does not collect user data. Enable Dark Reader in Safari preferences and disable similar extensions to prevent conflicts. Enjoy browsing!
BannerBye
Automatically refuses cookie banners on websites before they load, ensuring a cleaner browsing experience. It employs multiple layers of privacy controls to manage consent frameworks and website-specific banners.
- Refuses cookie banners automatically
- Supports Global Privacy Control (GPC)
- Integrates with IAB TCF v2.2
- Uses open-source autoconsent rules
- Handles major consent platforms
- Private by design with no tracking
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Cookie banners, killed. Before they load. Every website wants your consent. The banner covers the page, the refuse button is hidden, and you tap accept because you came to read the article. Then the next site asks again. BannerBye stops it. Switch it on once in Safari, and it refuses every cookie banner for you, silently and automatically, on every site. —————————————————————— HOW IT WORKS BannerBye uses five independent layers, applied in order: 1. Global Privacy Control (GPC). Tells websites you do not consent to the sale or sharing of your data. 2. IAB TCF v2.2. Where a site uses this consent framework, BannerBye answers with "refuse all" before the banner appears. 3. Autoconsent rules. The open-source rules by DuckDuckGo (MPL-2.0) describe the refuse route for hundreds of consent platforms, including the detour through a settings screen. 4. Platform handlers for OneTrust, Cookiebot, Usercentrics, TrustArc and Didomi. 5. A fallback that reads the button labels on banners a site built itself, and taps "Refuse all" or "Necessary only" for you. Where a site offers "consent or pay" instead of a free way to refuse, BannerBye leaves that choice to you. —————————————————————— PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account. No analytics. No tracking. Nothing to sell. ▸ Your settings stay on your iPhone or iPad, in Safari's storage. ▸ The extension fetches a public list of button labels from bannerbye.com. The app checks once an hour whether a new version is out. Neither request identifies you. ▸ Only when you tap "Report broken site" does it send the site name, such as example.com. Nothing else. ▸ The full source code is open: github.com/BannerBye/BannerBye (MIT). —————————————————————— ABOUT SAFARI'S WARNING Safari warns that the extension can read page content, including passwords and card numbers. That warning is the same for every extension that works on web pages. BannerBye only reads the page to find the cookie banner. It does not read passwords, card numbers or your browsing history, and it does not follow you from site to site. —————————————————————— IN CONTROL Switch BannerBye on or off with one tap, or pause it for a single site. Your pause list stays on your device. WORKS WITH ▸ Safari on iPhone and iPad ▸ iOS 17 / iPadOS 17 and later Website: https://bannerbye.com Privacy: https://bannerbye.com/privacy Recently fixed sites: https://bannerbye.com/fixed Contact: hello@bannerbye.com Cookie banners, killed. Before they load.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: BannerBye at 5.0 against Dark Reader for Safari's 4.3. BannerBye also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 2 months) and price ($1.99 vs $4.99). Dark Reader for Safari's advantage is ratings volume (285 vs 1) and chart position (#24 vs unranked). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Dark Reader for Safari costs $4.99 and BannerBye $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
BannerBye holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dark Reader for Safari has 285 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Dark Reader for Safari's written reviews are positive against 75% of BannerBye's.
Dark Reader for Safari ships an update every 2 months, BannerBye every 4 days. Both last shipped on November 2, 2026.
| Parameter | Dark Reader for Safari | BannerBye |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $1.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (285 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 64.2% of reviews | 75.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 285 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #24 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dark Reader Ltd | Kreatrix BV |
Customer experience
Dark Reader for Safari
BannerBye
Bugs and requests
Dark Reader for Safari
Reported bugs
3 issues- Extension stops working after Safari has been open for a while
- Fails to load on certain websites
- Inverts colors incorrectly on some websites
Requested features
5 requests- Per-site settings for Dynamic vs Filter modes
- Automatic dark mode based on time of day
- Ability to customize accent colors
- Support for PDF documents
- Sync settings across devices
BannerBye
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Dark Reader for Safari
No in-app purchases
BannerBye
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Dark Reader for Safari free?
Is BannerBye free?
Which has better reviews, Dark Reader for Safari or BannerBye?
Do Dark Reader for Safari or BannerBye have ads?
Which is updated more often, Dark Reader for Safari or BannerBye?
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