Comparison

Dark Surf vs Onyx

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

Head to head
About

Dark Surf

Enhance your browsing experience with a customizable dark theme for Safari. Adjust shade, contrast, saturation, and image settings. Schedule dark mode or set it per-site.

Highlights
  • Customizable dark theme
  • Adjustable shade and contrast
  • Saturation and image handling
  • Scheduling for dark mode
  • Per-site theme controls
  • Preset themes (Midnight, Warm, AMOLED, Gray)
Features
Read full description

Dark Surf gives Safari a thoughtful dark mode for every website. Instead of painting over pages, Dark Surf reads each site’s own design and rebuilds it in the dark. Backgrounds and cards turn deep and calm, text stays crisp, and the colors that carry meaning, like buttons, links, warnings and highlights, keep their character. Photos stay natural. SMART BY DEFAULT • Leaves websites that already have a dark design alone • Keeps dark logos, icons and formulas visible • Keeps text on top of photos readable • Handles modern websites built with CSS variables, Tailwind, Bootstrap and web components MAKE IT YOURS • Six themes: Midnight, Ocean, Dim, Warm, Graphite and true-black AMOLED • Build your own palette from any colors • Fine-tune brightness and contrast, and choose how images look • See every change instantly in a live preview that runs Safari’s own Dark Surf engine YOUR RULES • Switch any website between Dark, Invert and Off right from Safari • Keep lists of websites that are always dark, inverted or never themed • Follow a schedule or your device’s Dark Mode, or pause for an hour PRIVATE BY DESIGN Pages are recolored on your device. Dark Surf has no account, no analytics, no ads and no tracking, and never sends the pages you visit to anyone. Dark Surf is a Safari extension. After installing, turn it on in Settings › Apps › Safari › Extensions. The app shows you how.

About

Onyx

Features
Read full description

Onyx is a Safari extension for iOS that brings Dark Mode to every website while blocking ads, reducing blue light, and automatically enabling on your schedule. Features • Force Dark Mode on all websites • 7 built-in themes plus custom color creation • Built-in ad blocker for faster, cleaner browsing • Blue light reduction filter • Schedule mode: Automatically enables Dark Mode at the times you set • Per-site settings: Always On, Always Off, or Default • Sync your settings across devices with iCloud Comfortable Browsing at Night Reduce eye strain from nighttime screen use. Set your preferred hours and Onyx automatically turns on Dark Mode for a more comfortable browsing experience. How to Use 1. Install the app. 2. Go to Settings → Safari → Extensions and enable Onyx. 3. Tap the Onyx icon in Safari's toolbar to customize your settings.

Screenshots

Dark Surf4 screens
Onyx4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Onyx at every 3 weeks against Dark Surf's every 4 months. Dark Surf's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dark Surf ships an update every 4 months, Onyx every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Dark Surf versus Onyx: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDark SurfOnyx
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB12 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperVali MikayilovTakaki Takemura

In-app purchases

None

Dark Surf

No in-app purchases

None

Onyx

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dark Surf free?
Dark Surf is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Onyx free?
Onyx is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Dark Surf or Onyx have ads?
Neither Dark Surf nor Onyx shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dark Surf or Onyx?
Dark Surf ships an update every 4 months, and Onyx every 3 weeks. Most recently, Dark Surf was updated on October 13, 2026 and Onyx on October 12, 2026.

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