Brave Browser

Communication

8.0~~/10~~

Our score

★ 4.8 Google Play·100M+ installs

Reviewed by Editorial Team, ScoredApps editorial · updated 2026-10-06

Screenshots

Brave lion icon above the headline The Privacy Browser on a plain light background with a laurel badge

Mobile ESPN NBA news page under the headline Block ads and trackers

YouTube video page for a vinyl record on a turntable under the caption even on videos

Voice search card with a microphone button and the sample query Search 1-hour jazz music for studying

Leo chat answering a request for a four-day Cabo San Lucas travel plan with Day 1 and Day 2 steps and a follow-up box

Woman smiling at her phone under the headline Unlock your browser with Face ID beside a Face ID icon

About Brave Browser

Leo, the AI assistant built into this browser, is free to use without an account, but the free tier has a usage cap that Brave describes only as depending on traffic. The app also blocks ads and trackers by default, includes its own search engine and shows its own opt-out ads. Leo Premium costs $14.99 a month, and the mobile builds run no browser extensions.

App information

DeveloperBrave Software, Inc.

Version1.96.61 (Android) · 1.95 (iOS)

Size339 MB (Android) · 379 MB (iOS)

Price / In-appFree

Contains adsYes

In-app purchasesYes

Content rating16+

Requires (Android)Android 10+

Requires (iOS)iOS 18.0+

Interface languagesAR, BS, BG, CA, HR, CS + 31 more

Store rating (Google Play)4.8 from 3,866,551 ratings

Installs100M+

Updated by developer2026-09-24

Data checked2026-10-06

Specs come from the official store listings and were last checked on 2026-10-06. Developers change pricing and requirements — check the store page before installing.

Brave Review: Free Private AI With a Cap, and Ads You Switch Off

Leo free vs Leo Premium at $14.99: where the cap sits

Leo needs no account or sign-up on the free tier, and Brave publishes no daily prompt count; access is described as depending on traffic and usage. The free model list on Android 1.86 and later covers GPT OSS 20B, Llama 4 Scout, Llama 4 Maverick and Qwen 3 VL 30B. Leo Premium adds Claude Sonnet and Opus 4.6, DeepSeek v3.1, GPT OSS 120B, Mistral Large and Qwen 3 Coder 480B, plus higher limits and early access to new features. Brave lists it at $14.99 a month or $149.99 a year with a 7-day free trial, and the App Store shows the same amounts. TechRadar's July 2026 review hit rate-limit warnings during one long research session on the free tier. Prices are regional and can change.

Automatic mode, tab context and bring-your-own-model

On mobile, Leo opens from the Brave menu and reads the page you are on: summaries, translation, and questions about PDFs, Google Docs and Google Sheets. The model picker defaults to Automatic, which routes images to vision-capable models, always shows which model answered and lets you regenerate with another one. Bring your own model connects Leo to a local or remote model or a third-party API; on iPhone it appears in the version 1.91 release notes together with tool calling. Brave's own FAQ admits that Leo hallucinates, and a couple of Google Play reviewers in September and October 2026 call it slow, with one saying it dodges sensitive questions.

What Leo sends to Brave: page text, tab titles and feedback

A chat sends your prompt and conversation context. A page summary sends the page content, including any text you highlighted. Tab management sends the titles and URLs of open tabs, though not Private or Tor tabs. A thumbs-up or thumbs-down on an answer sends the full conversation with the rating, model and version. Brave says it collects no identifiers such as an IP address, keeps no prompts or responses on its servers, deletes cached large prompts within minutes and does not train on chats. History stays on the device, is never saved in a Private window and can be switched off. Premium uses unlinkable tokens, so a purchase cannot be tied to usage.

How a free browser pays: Brave Ads, Origin at $59.99 and no BAT on iPhone

The browser is free, but Brave Ads appear by default on the new-tab page and in Brave Search, and the browser ads can be toggled off. Search ads are switched off through Aggressive blocking in Shields or Search Premium at $3 a month. Brave Rewards pays in Basic Attention Token on Android, while on iPhone the FAQ says you cannot connect a payout account or earn BAT. Firewall + VPN costs $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Brave Origin, a one-time $59.99, is a stripped-down build with no AI and no crypto that covers all your devices. Prices are regional and can change.

Pros

Leo needs no account and chats are not used for model training
Free Leo offers Llama 4 Scout, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3 VL 30B
Bring your own model connects Leo to local models or third-party APIs
Shields offers Standard and Aggressive blocking plus fingerprint randomization
On iPhone, Shred clears one site's data without signing you out elsewhere
Leo chat history stays on the device and can be switched off

Cons

Free Leo has a traffic-based usage cap that Brave does not quantify
Brave Ads are on by default and must be switched off in settings
Mobile builds run no browser extensions, while Firefox for Android does
On iPhone, Rewards cannot connect a payout account, so no BAT can be earned

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Verdict

The 8.0 rewards a free browser that pairs default ad and tracker blocking with a no-account AI assistant and a detailed privacy policy, held back by a Leo cap Brave leaves unnumbered and by Brave Ads that start switched on. Take it if you want blocking, search and an AI assistant in one free app. Skip it if you need extensions on a phone, expect unlimited free AI, or want to earn BAT on an iPhone.

Core function8.5Shields, Brave Search and Leo cover blocking, search and AI; the missing piece is extension support on mobile builds.

Ease of use8.0Leo opens from the menu with no account, but several Play reviews of version 1.96 report a missing forward button.

Monetisation7.0Free core, but Brave Ads default on, Leo is capped without a published number, and add-ons run $9.99, $14.99 and $59.99.

Performance8.0Brave says its iOS ad-blocking engine uses 75% less memory; some Play reviewers report YouTube buffering and lapsing ad blocking.

Privacy & permissions8.5Leo stores no prompts server-side, but summaries send page text to Brave and Android Safe Browsing exposes the device IP to Google.

8.0out of 10 · weighted average of the five scores above

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Frequently asked questions

Is Brave Leo free?

Yes, Leo's free tier needs no account or sign-up. It includes open models such as Llama 4 Scout, Llama 4 Maverick, GPT OSS 20B and Qwen 3 VL 30B on Android 1.86 and later. Brave says access varies with traffic and usage and publishes no daily prompt number; Leo Premium raises the limits.

Can I choose which AI model Brave Leo uses?

Yes. Leo defaults to Automatic mode, which routes images to vision-capable models, shows which model answered and lets you regenerate with another one. On Android the picker sits under the menu, Leo AI, then Automatic. Bring your own model also connects local or remote models and third-party APIs; on iPhone it appears in the version 1.91 release notes.

How much does Brave Leo Premium cost?

Leo Premium costs $14.99 a month or $149.99 a year, with a 7-day free trial listed on Brave's site, and the App Store shows the same prices. It adds Claude Sonnet and Opus 4.6, DeepSeek v3.1 and larger Qwen models. Firewall + VPN is billed separately at $9.99 a month, and Brave Origin is a $59.99 one-time purchase. Prices vary by region.

Does Brave Leo save my chats?

Only on your device. Brave says Leo keeps history locally, never saves chats from Private windows and does not store prompts or responses on its servers; cached large prompts are deleted within minutes. You can switch history off or delete single conversations in Leo's settings. Subscriptions bought on iPhone renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the period ends.

How does Brave compare with Google Chrome and Firefox on a phone?

Brave and Google Chrome both run on the Chromium engine on Android and on Apple's WebKit on iPhone, according to Brave's own comparison page. Brave blocks ads and trackers by default and bundles Leo, which works only inside Brave. Firefox has run open extensions on Android since December 2023, which Brave's mobile builds do not match.