Kagi ends Orion for Linux and Windows and will open-source both

A WebKit-based browser that developers had been testing as a Linux alternative to Chromium and Firefox has stopped getting updates from its maker, with no replacement from the same company. Kagi, the paid search engine that funds the Orion browser project, posted on 2 October 2026 that it is ending its own development of Orion for Linux and Windows, and that it will open-source both so the community can continue them.

What is changing, and when

The Linux Beta will keep working but will stop receiving updates from Kagi after 2 October 2026, and Kagi writes that it does not recommend using it as a main browser. The Windows version, which had been planned for a late 2026 release, will not ship from Kagi at all. The company says source code for both platforms will be released, with details to follow "in the next 30 days", and that it has reached out to open-source foundations about long-term stewardship. Kagi has stated plainly that it will not be the core maintainer of either project after the handoff.

Orion for macOS and iOS is not affected. Kagi says the team and resources that had been split across three platforms are now focused on the Apple versions.

Who built it and why the move

Orion is built in-house at Kagi, "by a very small team, just a handful of developers, funded entirely by Kagi users". The company says it chose not to fork Chromium, which has kept Orion on WebKit and allowed it to behave differently from the browsers backed by larger companies, and that this independence is part of why the project exists at all.

The reason Kagi gives for stepping back is capacity. The company writes that a cross-platform browser is usually built by a venture-funded firm or by a large open-source community, and that Kagi has the resources of a small, user-funded firm. Spreading a small team across three platforms was leaving the Apple versions less complete than its users wanted. Members had asked the company to be more focused, and this is Kagi's response.

For a reader running Orion on Linux today

If you were running the Orion Linux Beta, treat today as the last supported Kagi build and plan a move back to another WebKit-based or Chromium-based browser for anything you rely on. If you had signed up for the Orion for Windows waitlist, Kagi says that newsletter list stops with this update and no release will arrive from the company. If you maintain an open-source project and the thought of stewarding a WebKit browser with cross-platform ambitions appeals to you, Kagi's blog post gives support@kagi.com as the contact, and the "next 30 days" window is where the handoff conversations are happening.

The 30-day gap, and what is not known

No code has been released yet. The repositories, licence, governance model and chosen foundations are all unresolved, and Kagi has given itself a month to work them out. A news item that promised to tell you how to contribute to Orion on Linux today would be guessing: the thing to watch is the follow-up post Kagi has committed to within 30 days.

Source

• Kagi, An Update on Orion for Linux and Windows, 2 October 2026.
• Hacker News, discussion thread, 3 October 2026.