Comparison

Shimmer Browser vs VanBrowser

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Shimmer Browser

This web browser offers customizable visual styles and a resizable sidebar for a personalized experience. It includes features to manage tabs, set time limits, block web annoyances, and organize saved links. Homescreen widgets provide quick access to selected tabs.

Highlights
  • Customizable visual styles
  • Resizable sidebar
  • Tab saving and organization
  • Time limits on saved tabs
  • Web annoyance blocking
  • Homescreen widgets
Features
Read full description

Introducing Shimmer Browser - The focus browser! Your style - 3 visual styles to choose from, resizable sidebar with a compact icon-only made, and all buttons are fully customisable. Arc-like - save tabs, organise them into folders, sync via iCloud. No more doom-scrolling - set time limits on saved tabs. Clutter-free - block annoyances on the web, quickly clean up unsaved tabs, or set them to auto-close! Tab triage - saved tabs detect links to other sites, and present them in tab triage with options to save for later. Tabs on your homescreen - add widgets to your homescreen and select the tabs they show. Give it a try! It’s free up to 4 tabs at once, so you can get a sense of the browsing experience. If you like it, you can unlock the full experience and help me add more features!

About

VanBrowser

A fast, private web browser designed for Apple devices. It prioritizes user control and transparency by avoiding AI features and data collection. Offers advanced tools for inspecting web activity and managing online identities.

Highlights
  • No AI features
  • Advanced web inspection tools
  • Persona-based identity separation
  • Tracker and ad blocking
  • Local data storage
  • Optional iCloud sync
  • Native Apple device design
Features
Read full description

Fast, private, and built natively for Mac, iPhone, and iPad, VanBrowser puts you in control of your browsing experience instead of collecting data about it. Many browsers racing to add AI assistants, cloud services, and increasingly complicated and hidden interfaces. VanBrowser takes a different approach. It is a browser first, designed to help you browse the web with more transparency. NO AI. NONE. VanBrowser includes no AI features. No chatbot. No page summaries. No assistant watching what you browse. No prompts asking you to generate content. What you do in VanBrowser never becomes training data for us because we don't collect it in the first place. We don't collect data: You're not the product. Instead of monetizing your browsing activity, we rely on Pro subscriptions and optional tips to support continued development. SEE WHAT THE WEB IS DOING Most browsers hide what happens behind the scenes. VanBrowser puts that information in front of you. A live status bar shows page load times, transferred data, and resource counts as pages load. Open the Cookies, Network, and Page Info panels to inspect what a site sets, requests, and loads. Advanced users can also send and inspect raw web requests directly. PERSONAS: SEPARATE YOUR ONLINE IDENTITIES Keep work and personal accounts separate without juggling multiple browsers. Personas provide isolated browsing environments with their own cookies and device identities, making it easy to: • Stay logged into multiple accounts at the same time • Keep work and personal browsing separate • Open websites as a clean device • Automatically send specific websites to the correct Persona PRIVACY BY DEFAULT VanBrowser blocks many trackers and ads using maintained blocklists and is designed to give you greater control over your browsing data. History, bookmarks, passwords, and settings are stored locally on your Mac by default. If you use multiple devices, you can optionally enable iCloud sync to share supported data through your own iCloud account. VanBrowser is designed to minimize the collection of user data. We do not operate a cloud service for storing your browsing history, bookmarks, passwords, or synced data. BUILT NATIVELY FOR MAC, IPHONE, AND IPAD VanBrowser is designed specifically for macOS, iPhone, and iPad and feels at home here. Features include: • Tabbed browsing • Bookmarks and bookmarks bar • History and downloads • Reader View • Find in Page • Zoom controls • Built-in password vault • Built-in payment card vault • Per-site controls • Accessibility-focused design ACCESSIBILITY FIRST VanBrowser includes support for VoiceOver, Voice Control, and accessibility-focused customization throughout the app. FREE AND PRO VanBrowser is free to use. Upgrade to Pro to unlock iCloud sync, additional Personas, and other advanced features. A browser should work for you, not advertisers, data brokers, or AI companies. VanBrowser is a browser. That's the point. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Shimmer Browser4 screens
VanBrowser4 screens

Verdict

The call

Shimmer Browser and VanBrowser both sit at 5.0 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of VanBrowser's written reviews are positive against 50% of Shimmer Browser's. VanBrowser also leads on ratings volume (7 vs 2) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Shimmer Browser sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and VanBrowser sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Shimmer Browser against 5.0 for VanBrowser. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 7 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Shimmer Browser's written reviews are positive against 100% of VanBrowser's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shimmer Browser ships an update every 6 days, VanBrowser every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Shimmer Browser versus VanBrowser: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShimmer BrowserVanBrowser
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings27 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size45 MB29 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperJamie FroggattVertolini

Customer experience

Shimmer Browser

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

VanBrowser

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Shimmer Browser

One-time4
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$3.99
  • More Tabs$7.99
Show 1 more
  • Generous Tip$9.99
6 purchases

VanBrowser

Subscriptions2
  • VanBrowser (Monthly)$1.991 Month
  • VanBrowser Pro (Yearly)$19.991 Year
One-time4
  • Small Tip$2.99
  • Medium Tip$6.99
  • Large Tip$12.99
Show 1 more
  • VanBrowser Pro (Lifetime)$49.99

Questions

Is Shimmer Browser free?
Shimmer Browser is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is VanBrowser free?
VanBrowser is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shimmer Browser or VanBrowser?
Shimmer Browser and VanBrowser are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 7 ratings respectively.
Do Shimmer Browser or VanBrowser have ads?
Neither Shimmer Browser nor VanBrowser shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shimmer Browser or VanBrowser?
Shimmer Browser ships an update every 6 days, and VanBrowser every 3 days. Most recently, Shimmer Browser was updated on September 30, 2026 and VanBrowser on October 1, 2026.

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