Comparison

Crest Browser vs Private Browser

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

Head to head
About

Crest Browser

Organize your online life with distinct browsing contexts for work, personal use, and private browsing. Each context has its own tabs, history, and data, ensuring a clean separation of your digital activities.

Highlights
  • Isolated browsing contexts (Spaces)
  • Separate tabs, history, and cookies per Space
  • Customizable Space identity
  • Focused sidebar for tabs and history
  • Peek for temporary link previews
  • Optional iCloud sync
Read full description

Work, personal life, and everything between deserve their own Space. Crest is a native browser for iPhone and iPad that keeps your accounts separate, your tabs organized, and your browsing distinctly yours. KEEP YOUR ACCOUNTS SEPARATE Each Space has its own tabs, cookies, website data, history, passwords, and site permissions. Stay signed in to different accounts on the same website. Switch from work to personal browsing without carrying the wrong session with you. GIVE EVERY TAB A PLACE Pin the sites you use every day. Save pages in folders. Keep today's tabs close and completed work in the archive. Select and move tabs, folders, and Split View groups together. On iPhone, bring in the sidebar with a gesture; on iPad, keep it beside your page. MAKE IT YOUR OWN Start with a Winter, Lion, or other crest template in Crest Studio, then change the colors, artwork, and background. Choose a crest, emoji, monogram, or symbol. Look and Feel lets you adjust the sidebar's edge, tab appearance, borders, icon colors, and default page zoom, with a live preview. KEEP RELATED PAGES TOGETHER Group two to four pages in Split View. On iPad, browse them side by side and resize the columns. On iPhone, swipe across the compact toolbar to move between pages in the group. Peek lets you check supported links without losing your place, then keep the page as a tab when you need it. TOOLS FOR EVERYDAY BROWSING Translate webpages on device with Apple's Translation framework. Read supported articles in Reader, find text on a page, adjust zoom, share links, and export pages. Content blocking and site permissions give you control over each Space. Language availability varies, and translation may require a language download. PRIVATE WHEN YOU NEED IT Private Browsing uses temporary website storage. Private tabs stay out of saved history, restoration, archive, and sync. Crest does not run an advertising SDK, collect browsing analytics, or require a Crest account. PICK UP ON ANOTHER DEVICE Optional iCloud sync keeps supported Space and tab organization available across your Apple devices through your private iCloud database. Crest is also available for Mac. Crest is free and open source, built with Apple's WebKit. Requires iOS 26.1 or iPadOS 26.1 or later. Some website features and integrations vary by device.

About

Private Browser

Features
Read full description

Private Browser is a fast, ad-free way to use the web on iPhone. It blocks ads and trackers before they load, keeps your browsing to yourself, and puts a lock on the whole app. No account. No profile. Nothing sold. BLOCK ADS AND TRACKERS • Over 135,000 filter rules from EasyList and EasyPrivacy, applied before a page starts loading • Pages load faster and use less data, because the ads never arrive • Cookie banners hidden automatically • A live counter shows exactly what was blocked on the page you are reading • Turn protection off for one site you trust, without turning it off everywhere PRIVATE TABS THAT REALLY ARE PRIVATE • Private tabs use a separate, temporary store — nothing is written to disk • Close the last private tab and the whole session is destroyed, not just hidden • Normal tabs keep history only for as long as you want it; clear any part of it in one tap LOCK THE APP, NOT JUST THE SCREEN • Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode to open the app • The page is covered the moment you switch apps, so nothing shows in the app switcher • Files you download are stored with iOS file protection and stay unreadable while the device is locked BUILT FOR READING, NOT FOR ADS • Reader mode strips a page down to the article • Dark mode for any website, not just the ones that support it • Toolbars get out of the way as you scroll and come straight back • Tabs, bookmarks, reading list and downloads, all where you expect them SEARCH THE WAY YOU PREFER • Choose from DuckDuckGo, Google, Bing, Brave, Startpage, Ecosia, Yahoo or Baidu • HTTPS-Only mode, so an insecure page never loads by accident • Encrypted DNS guidance built in • QR scanner, downloads manager and full backup SPEAKS YOUR LANGUAGE Every screen is translated into 36 languages, including Arabic and Hebrew with full right-to-left layout. PRIVATE BROWSER PRO Private Browser Pro removes every upgrade prompt, includes each new feature as it arrives, and comes with priority email support. Choose a weekly or yearly subscription, or buy Lifetime once and own it outright with no subscription at all. The price for your country, the renewal date, and the length of any free trial offered are always shown in the app before you confirm. Nothing is charged until you do, and a free trial is free. A subscription renews automatically unless it is cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your Apple Account is charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of that period. You can manage or cancel a subscription at any time in Settings on your device. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/privacy-policy-004/home Support: https://sites.google.com/view/eteamhelp

Screenshots

Crest Browser4 screens
Private Browser4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Crest Browser at none against Private Browser's 3. Private Browser's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.1). On price, update cadence, ads 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. Private Browser sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 7 days. Crest Browser asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Crest Browser versus Private Browser: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCrest BrowserPrivate Browser
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.117.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size57 MB31 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperPaul DavisMD. NASAR UDDIN REDOY

In-app purchases

None

Crest Browser

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Private Browser

Subscriptions2
  • Private Browser Pro (Weekly)$9.997 Days
  • Private Browser Pro (Yearly)3 Days trial$59.991 Year
One-time1
  • Private Browser Pro Lifetime$149.99

Questions

Is Crest Browser free?
Crest Browser is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Private Browser free?
Private Browser is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Crest Browser or Private Browser have ads?
Neither Crest Browser nor Private Browser shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Crest Browser or Private Browser?
Crest Browser ships an update every 2 weeks, and Private Browser every 2 weeks. Most recently, Crest Browser was updated on October 12, 2026 and Private Browser on October 5, 2026.

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