Maho vs Aside Browser: agentic AI, two philosophies
Two takes on the AI browser. Different beliefs, different products.
Both browsers are Chromium forks. Both target AI-assisted workflows. They disagree on almost everything else: how AI should be priced, how many devices it should run on, and how much autonomy an agent should have. This is an honest comparison.
The 30-second answer
Section titled “The 30-second answer”| Aside | Maho | |
|---|---|---|
| Best at | Autonomous agent tasks across logged-in websites | Organized browsing across every device you own |
| Platforms | macOS only | macOS today; iPhone, Android in development |
| Free plan | $0, 500 credits/month | $0, unlimited BYOK |
| Paid plan | $20–$200/month (managed AI) | $5–$20/month (managed AI) + PAYG credits |
| AI model | Autonomous agent (acts on your behalf) | Assistant (acts when you ask) |
| Source | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Sync | Cloud sync database | E2E encrypted relay, cross-device |
Where Aside leads, and why benchmarks are the wrong measure
Section titled “Where Aside leads, and why benchmarks are the wrong measure”Aside ranks #1 on three browser agent benchmarks. We’re not going to pretend otherwise. If your mental model is “AI does work for me while I’m not looking,” Aside leads.
We think that’s the wrong mental model.
Autonomous agent products in 2025–26 share a documented failure surface, not specific to Aside, but inherent to the paradigm Aside leads. The category has produced agents that bought the wrong flight, replied to a boss with hallucinated context, and leaked credentials to a phishing page that looked official. Benchmarks measure task completion under sanitized conditions. They don’t measure what happens when something goes wrong in your actual life.
Maho’s answer isn’t a worse agent. It’s a different question: what would AI look like if it ran when you asked, on data you saw, with consent every step? That’s a different product. The rest of this page is about that product.
Where Maho wins
Section titled “Where Maho wins”Cross-platform from day one
Section titled “Cross-platform from day one”Aside is macOS only. Maho is available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Spaces, bookmarks, and history sync end-to-end encrypted across your Maho devices. If you work across desktop devices, Aside makes you choose. Maho doesn’t.
Free forever, no credit meter
Section titled “Free forever, no credit meter”Aside’s free tier gives you 500 credits per month. Heavy users hit the wall. Maho’s free tier gives you unlimited BYOK, you bring your own API key (OpenAI, Anthropic, or local Ollama) and pay your provider directly. No middleman markup, no credit anxiety. If you’d rather not manage keys, Maho Pro is $5/mo and Max is $20/mo, flat fees with clear model ceilings, not metered.
Steered AI, not autonomous AI
Section titled “Steered AI, not autonomous AI”Think of it like driving. Aside is full-self-driving: the agent picks the route, navigates the websites, taps the buttons. Maho is hand-on-wheel: you steer, the AI accelerates. Summarize this page. Clean up these tab titles. Organize my downloads. Draft a reply, but let me send it. The AI is powerful, it just doesn’t act in your accounts when you’re not watching. For most real work, that’s not a limitation. It’s the point.
Spaces, not tabs
Section titled “Spaces, not tabs”Aside organizes your browser around AI tasks. Maho organizes around projects. Each Space is a persistent workspace with its own tabs, AI thread, notes, and split view state. Switch contexts in one click. Pick up tomorrow exactly where you left off.
Sync that’s actually private
Section titled “Sync that’s actually private”Both browsers claim local-first. Maho’s sync architecture is documented publicly: X25519 handshake, six-digit verification code, AES-GCM per-message authentication. The full design lives in our engineering blog at /blog/sync-architecture-end-to-end. Aside doesn’t publish their sync design.
Detailed comparison
Section titled “Detailed comparison”| Feature | Aside Browser | Maho Browser |
|---|---|---|
| Source | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Free tier | $0 / 500 credits / month | $0 / unlimited / BYOK |
| Mid tier | $20/mo (3× credits) | $5/mo (managed AI, Pro) |
| High tier | $200/mo | $20/mo (managed AI, Max) |
| Pay-as-you-go credits | subscription only | $10/$50/$100 packs, never expire |
| Free trial of paid | 14 days | Not needed, free works forever |
| BYOK | Partial (Pro+ feature) | Yes, free tier, unlimited |
| Cross-device sync | (not advertised) | Yes, E2E encrypted |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | No | In development |
| Android | No | In development |
| Windows | In development | In development |
| Linux | No | In development |
| AI model | Autonomous agent | Assistant on demand |
| AI benchmark leadership | #1 on 3 benchmarks | Not pursued |
| Workspace model | Tab list + agent panel | Spaces (persistent workspaces) |
| Split view | No | Yes |
| Per-site customization | No | Yes (Boosts) |
| Manifest V3 extensions | (unclear) | Yes |
| External audit | Not published | Not contracted yet |
| Sync architecture | Not published | Published spec |
| Telemetry default | (per privacy policy) | Off by default |
| Founded | 2024 (YC F25) | 2025 (individual developer) |
Which one is right for you?
Section titled “Which one is right for you?”Pick Aside if you primarily work in a few logged-in tools, your work is repetitive enough that an agent can finish multi-step tasks, you’re macOS-only, and you’re comfortable letting AI take actions in your accounts.
Pick Maho if you work across multiple devices (or plan to), you organize work by project rather than by task, you prefer AI that runs only when you ask, and you’d rather pay $5–$20/mo with PAYG credits than $20–$200/mo for managed agentic AI.
Frequently asked questions
Section titled “Frequently asked questions”Is Maho a fork of Aside?
Section titled “Is Maho a fork of Aside?”No. Both are independent Chromium forks.
Why doesn’t Maho compete on agent benchmarks?
Section titled “Why doesn’t Maho compete on agent benchmarks?”Different product philosophy. We chose Spaces + on-demand AI over autonomous agents. See our reasoning on the /why page.
Can I migrate from Aside to Maho?
Section titled “Can I migrate from Aside to Maho?”Yes. Maho imports bookmarks, history, and passwords from Aside and most Chromium-based browsers on first launch.
Is Maho open source like Brave or Firefox?
Section titled “Is Maho open source like Brave or Firefox?”No. Maho is proprietary, the same as Aside. We focus instead on external verification methods, public architecture documentation, and direct contact with the developer.
How does Maho make money?
Section titled “How does Maho make money?”Maho Pro ($5/mo) and Maho Max ($20/mo), managed AI subscriptions for users who want premium models without managing API keys. We don’t sell ads, we don’t sell your data, and we don’t take a cut of your API spend. The free tier is sustained by the paid tiers.
Try Maho. It’s free.
Section titled “Try Maho. It’s free.”Start at $0 with BYOK, move to Pro for $5 or Max for $20 when you want managed AI. Download Maho.
For a broader overview of how Maho stacks up against other AI-forward browsers, see our 2026 agentic browser comparison.