Comparison

Bare vs tabbrowser

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

Head to head
About

Bare

This browser automatically blocks ads and trackers with no setup required. It offers a reader mode, private tabs, and customizable news feeds. All features are free, with an optional tipping feature.

Highlights
  • Automatic ad and tracker blocking
  • Reader mode with customizable text and backgrounds
  • Private tabs
  • Customizable news feed
  • Site-specific blocking exceptions
  • Desktop mode per site
Features
Read full description

Bare is a web browser with ad and tracker blocking built in and switched on from the first launch. Nothing to configure, nothing to buy first. WHAT IT BLOCKS Five filter lists ship inside the app — about 163,000 rules covering ads, trackers, regional ads, cookie notices and page annoyances. They refresh in the background every day. If an update fails, the previous rules stay in use, so you are never left unprotected without being told. Blocking applies to pages you open in Bare. It does not reach into other apps, and your connection still goes straight to the site. WHEN A SITE BREAKS Tap the shield in the address bar and blocking is off for that site. Tap it again to turn it back on. Every site you have switched it off for is listed in Settings, so you can find them again months later. WHAT IT COLLECTS Anonymous counts of how the app is used, with a switch in Settings that stops them. Never a page you visited, a search you typed, or a page title. No account, no ad ID, no crash reporting. Your history stays on this device and is never synced. Bookmarks sync through your own iCloud, which we cannot see. READING Reader mode strips a page down to the article, with four text sizes and a light, sepia or dark background. Pages with no dark mode of their own can be forced dark, per site. Text size is remembered per site too. THE REST OF A BROWSER Tabs with no limit. Private tabs that leave nothing behind when you close them. Five search engines. Find on page. Downloads that show up in the Files app. Desktop mode per site. Swipe from the edge to go back and forward. NEWS ON THE START PAGE Headlines in the language the app is set to. All 35 languages have their own publishers, 159 feeds altogether. A phone set to Danish gets Danish papers. The requests go out from your phone. Nothing passes through a server of ours. Tap a headline and it opens in a tab like any other link. Turn it off in Settings and the requests stop. 35 LANGUAGES Bare follows your phone's language. Settings has a list if you want a different one, and the change takes effect while you are still looking at the screen. You do not have to restart anything. Menus, error messages, the news, all of it. FREE, ALL OF IT Every feature, every filter list, every update. No paid tier, no account, nothing held back. There is a tip in Settings if you want to leave one, and it unlocks nothing. This app contains no ads and never will.

About

tabbrowser

This mobile browser prioritizes speed and privacy with built-in ad and popup blocking. It offers intuitive one-handed navigation through tab swiping and customizable gestures for enhanced control. Enjoy features like in-browser media playback and reading tools.

Highlights
  • One-handed tab switching via swipe gestures
  • Built-in ad and popup blocking
  • Customizable gestures for actions
  • In-browser video and music playback
  • Reader view and read-aloud functionality
  • Private browsing mode
  • Tab grouping and management
Features
Read full description

A tab browser built for one hand: swipe anywhere on the screen for the next tab. Ad and popup blocking is on by default. ■ Swipe to switch tabs No need to open the tab list: swipe sideways on the page for the next tab, or from the screen edge to go back or forward. ■ Block ads and popups Banner ads and tracking scripts never load. Basic filters are free and update daily. ・Stops self-opening tabs, full-screen ads, and redirect ads; review what's blocked, or allow a site ・Hides cookie banners and social share buttons, and skips images to save on data ■ Stay in the browser Links to X, YouTube, Instagram, or LINE keep you in the browser; choose to stay or open the app, remembered per site. ■ Gestures ・L shape: close the tab. Reverse L: reopen it. Upward L: new tab or tab list. V shape: jump to the top or bottom ・U and sideways L shapes can be assigned too, to ten more actions such as reload, back, forward, or add bookmark ・Hold a link to open it in a background tab. Swipe the new tab button up to close the current tab ■ Tabs ・Group tabs by color, fold and expand them, and keep pinned tabs first even through "close all" ・Closed tabs are listed under Today, Yesterday, and Last Week, ready to restore, and a tab playing music keeps playing even when you switch away ・No limit on tabs. Relaunch, and every tab and its history comes right back, with thumbnails and reordering in the list ■ Bars and menu ・Toolbar top or bottom, hiding as you scroll; gaming mode leaves just the URL and tab bars, which can match the site's color ・Reorder menu items, pin favorites to the toolbar, or save sites as quick access buttons ・Open a page in a floating window you can move and resize while reading ■ Search and new tab ・Google, Bing, Yahoo!, DuckDuckGo, or Baidu, with suggestions, history, and bookmarks as you type ・A new tab page of tiles for favorite sites, echoed in a widget ・Open a copied URL on return to the app, or send a page here from any share sheet ■ Bookmarks and history ・Nest folders your way; reorder, edit, or swipe to delete ・History by day: clear the last hour, today, today and yesterday, or everything; cache and cookies clear separately ■ Video and music ・Keep playing when you switch apps or lock the screen, watch in Picture in Picture, and split the screen into up to six pages, stacked or side by side, even on iPhone (Premium) ■ Read and research ・Translate a page as is, or switch to a reader view for just the article ・Read aloud in a natural voice, highlighting each paragraph, with adjustable speed and a sleep timer, across tabs or with the screen off ・Night mode, text size, desktop view, full screen, find on page, sharing, AirPrint, save as PDF ・Capture an entire page as one screenshot (Premium) ・Download and manage files ■ Privacy No personal data is collected; your browsing and searches never reach the developer. Private tabs leave no history or cookies and stay hidden in the app switcher. Lock the app, or just private tabs, with Face ID or Touch ID and a delay you set; trackers are blocked with the ads. ■ iPad and external keyboards Three layouts for the bigger screen: popover menus, a side-panel tab list, and two-pane settings, plus shortcuts like ⌘T for a new tab. ■ tabbrowser Premium (monthly or yearly subscription) Basic ad blocking stays free. Premium unlocks: ・Advanced ad blocking: ads on video sites, clutter, "disable your ad blocker" walls, and tap-to-remove ads that slipped through ・Background playback, Picture in Picture, and split screen ・iCloud sync for bookmarks, history, and tabs ・Full page screenshots and 40 alternative app icons Your subscription is charged to your Apple ID at purchase and renews unless canceled at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage it in your App Store account settings. Terms of use: https://dkit.jp/en/terms/ Privacy policy: https://dkit.jp/en/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Bare4 screens
tabbrowser4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: tabbrowser at 5.0 against Bare's 4.0. tabbrowser also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 8 days). Bare's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ratings volume, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bare sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and tabbrowser sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.89 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

tabbrowser holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 4 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bare ships an update every 8 days, tabbrowser every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Bare versus tabbrowser: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBaretabbrowser
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings24 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB38 MB
Age rating17+17+
Developer岚烜 吴Saigen inc.

Customer experience

Bare

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

tabbrowser

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Bare

One-time3
  • Small tip$0.99
  • Medium tip$4.99
  • Large tip$9.99
2 purchases

tabbrowser

Subscriptions2
  • Premium (Monthly)$9.891 Month
  • Premium (Yearly)$88.901 Year

Questions

Is Bare free?
Bare is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is tabbrowser free?
tabbrowser is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bare or tabbrowser?
tabbrowser is rated higher. Bare averages 4.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while tabbrowser averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Bare or tabbrowser have ads?
Neither Bare nor tabbrowser shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bare or tabbrowser?
Bare ships an update every 8 days, and tabbrowser every 2 days. Most recently, Bare was updated on October 31, 2026 and tabbrowser on November 10, 2026.

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