Press release · Refrax
kageroumado Releases Refrax, an Open-Source Mac Web Browser With Vertical Tabs, Spaces and Interchangeable Engines
Refrax is a free, open-source web browser for macOS built after Arc was discontinued: vertical tabs, spaces, a command palette and a CLI, with WebKit built in and Chromium installable beside it.
Published · Updated . Features and availability describe the product at the update date.
Refrax is a free and open-source web browser for macOS, built by kageroumado on WebKit with a vertical sidebar and tab spaces.
Refrax organizes browsing around vertical tabs and grouped spaces, with a compact mode and a command lens that puts every open tab, bookmark and browser action one keystroke away. Tabs, history, bookmarks, passwords, downloads and extensions are implemented natively for macOS, with a Liquid Glass interface.
The browser separates its interface from its rendering engine. WebKit, the engine shared with Safari, is built in; Chromium can be installed alongside it, as can any other engine that implements Refrax's engine contract. A command-line interface allows the whole browser to be driven and scripted, including by AI agents.
Key features
- Vertical tabs, grouped spaces and compact mode
- Command lens for tabs, bookmarks and actions
- WebKit built in; Chromium and other engines installable
- Native tabs, history, bookmarks, passwords, downloads and extensions
- Scriptable CLI, usable by AI agents
How it compares
| App | Engine | License | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refrax | WebKit; Chromium installable, switchable per tab | GPL-3.0 | Free | v0.38.0, 2026-11-01 |
| Arc | Chromium | Proprietary | New accounts closed since 2026-10-22 | Sunsetting on 2026-12-22, when it stops working on macOS and Windows |
| Dia | Chromium | Proprietary | Free; paid plans US$10/month and US$100/month | v1.55.0, 2026-10-29 |
| Zen Browser | Firefox 158 | MPL-2.0 | Free | Beta, 1.24b, 2026-10-29 |
| Helium | Chromium with Google services removed | GPL-3.0 | Free | Beta, 0.20.3.1 for macOS, 2026-10-30 |
| Orion | WebKit | Proprietary; some components open-sourced | Free; Orion+ US$5/month, $50/year or $150 lifetime | 1.1.3, 2026-09-28 |
Availability
Refrax is available now as a free download from kagerou.glass/refrax. It requires macOS 26 or later on a Mac with Apple silicon. The source code is published on GitHub under the GNU General Public License v3.0.
About kageroumado
I'm Mado Kagerou, publishing as kageroumado: an independent researcher and expert Swift engineer with more than ten years of software development experience. As a founder and technical lead, I take projects from architecture through release. My research interests center on computational pharmacology, computational neuroscience and AI safety. My engineering specialties include Apple platform internals, reverse engineering, GPU rendering and local model training.
Research, engineering work and leadership experience
Media contact
kageroumado · [email protected] · kagerou.glass