BearTube vs Surge Browser
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BearTube
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BearTube is a small browser extension to make the drive-by YouTube experience more 2005 than 2025. It puts the video front and center, adhering to the design ethos best expressed by Terry Tate - "condense the nonsense".
Surge Browser
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People capitalize tech companies with their online activity. We at User Cooperative believe it’s time for a tech company to return all its value to its users in proportion to their use, and that’s what we do. User Cooperative is a 100% user-owned and -governed tech company, and by extension, all tech we build belongs to our users. We therefore consider ourselves the people’s tech company. Our mission is as bold as we are unique, and that’s to put all meaningful tech power and profits into the people’s hands. We start with Surge, a web browser. State-of-the-art in its design. Revolutionary in how it counts your activity so we can share our profits with you. When you create an account on Surge, you become a User Cooperative owner. While you're signed in, Surge counts the sites you visit, which you can see in-browser, and that count is how we share our profits with you. Indeed, each click builds your equity in User Cooperative, and the value of your browsing activity flows back to you as patronage dividends, the way cooperatives have shared their profits for centuries. Not interested in equity for your clicks? You can browse without signing in or go incognito, and Surge won’t count your activity. SURGE HIGHLIGHTS - Equity page to view your stake in User Cooperative - Import tool so you can bring your data from Safari and Chrome and get equity for it - Search engine selector so you can ditch the default - Tab switcher for easy toggling; tabs and their history survive restart - Autofill for your passwords, addresses, and IDs that only live on your device and are secured by Face ID - Bookmarks and Reading List - On-device page translation and voice search - No analytics and no third-party trackers in the app - Delete your browsing data or your whole account at any time right in the app - Incognito mode - Dark mode
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is device support: BearTube at 3 against Surge Browser's 1. BearTube also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
| Parameter | BearTube | Surge Browser |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | — | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 6 MB | 21 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Lazy Bear Labs LLC | User Cooperative |
In-app purchases
BearTube
No in-app purchases
Surge Browser
No in-app purchases









