Crest Browser vs Akari
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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 from Winter, Lion, or another template in Crest Studio, then choose a color for each part of the crest and the sidebar. Choose a crest, emoji, monogram, or symbol. Appearance settings adjust the window border, sidebar material, tab corners, borders, and default page zoom. 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 Choose one default search for every Space and another for Private Browsing, or pick one for a single Space. Search from a new tab to find the pages and tabs you use most. 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.
Akari
A web browser designed for a calmer online experience, this app blocks ads, pop-ups, and trackers. It offers features like tab management, reader mode, and background media playback, with optional Pro features for enhanced customization and blocking.
- Ad, pop-up, and tracker blocking
- Video ad skipping
- Reader mode and page summarization
- Tab management with swipe gestures
- Private browsing with Face ID lock
- Cross-device sync with Mac/Windows
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Akari is a calmer web browser that blocks ads, pop-ups and trackers on your iPhone and iPad. BLOCK THE NOISE • Shields blocks ads and trackers using EasyList and EasyPrivacy, right on your device. • Pop-up blocking stops new windows and redirects you didn't ask for. • Block Video Ads skips the ads on video sites, so you get straight to the video. • Cookie banners hidden, and tracking tags stripped from the links you open and share. A CALMER WAY TO BROWSE • One bar for sites and searches. It fills in the websites you visit as you type. • Favorites as a grid of site icons, right on the start page. • Tabs as cards. Swipe the address bar to move between tabs, flick a card away to close it. • Peek previews a link before you open it. • Spaces keep work, home and everything else apart. • Reader turns cluttered articles into clean, easy text, and Summarize sums up a page on your device. • Keep audio and video playing in the background or in picture in picture. PRIVATE AND SECURE • Private tabs forget everything when you close them, and Face ID can lock them. • Sign in with passkeys, and set Akari as your default browser. • Find on page, downloads saved to the Files app, and "Open in Akari" in the share sheet. • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for quick search and your favorites. • Nine colors, including a true black. WORKS WITH AKARI FOR MAC AND WINDOWS Sign in with your email and your favorites and color follow you between your iPhone and your computers. Sync is end-to-end encrypted, so we can't read it. Signing in is optional. AKARI PRO (OPTIONAL) Focus Mode, Block Lists, Hide Element, Hide Annoyances, Video Speed and app icons. Monthly, yearly or a one-time purchase. Everything above stays free. No ads. No tracking. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://0arch.io/akari/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Akari at 100% against Crest Browser's 25%. Akari also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.1). Crest Browser's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and rating (4.2 vs 3.8). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Akari sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Crest Browser asks for nothing beyond the download.
Crest Browser holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Crest Browser has 20 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 25% of Crest Browser's written reviews are positive against 100% of Akari's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Crest Browser ships an update every 2 weeks, Akari every 2 days. Both last shipped on November 10, 2026.
| Parameter | Crest Browser | Akari |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (20 ratings) — better | 3.8 (4 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 25.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 20 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.1 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 73 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Paul Davis | Joseph Rodriguez |
Customer experience
Crest Browser
Akari
In-app purchases
Crest Browser
No in-app purchases
Akari
- Akari Pro Monthly$2.991 Month
- Akari Pro Yearly$14.991 Year
- Akari Pro Lifetime$39.99






