Brave Leo AI Browsing
Also known as: Brave Leo, Leo AI, Brave AI Browsing
Brave's privacy first browser agent: autonomous multi step browsing in an isolated profile with alignment checking and zero data retention, BYOM local model support, and the category's most documented security architecture; early access since May 2026.
Brave Leo is the privacy first AI in the Brave browser, and its AI Browsing mode (early access across all release channels since May 2026) gives it autonomous capabilities: actively browsing websites, researching across sources, filling shopping carts, comparing products, and completing multi step tasks while the user maintains control.
Brave's safety architecture is the most documented in the consumer wave: the agent runs in an isolated browser profile with no access to cookies, logins, or sensitive data, alignment checking verifies intended actions, the mode is off by default, nothing is logged or retained, and Brave published the vulnerability research and responsible disclosures that defined the category's prompt injection risks, doubling its HackerOne bounties for agentic findings.
BYOM lets users connect local models via Ollama or OpenAI compatible endpoints, with open models free and Claude and GPT class models in Premium; Skills provide reusable prompt shortcuts combinable with the agent. TEE backed deployments with NEAR.AI and Nvidia add cryptographically verifiable privacy.
Vendor details
Canonical URL
https://brave.com/leo-ai/
Category
Browser / computer-use agent
Funding status
Product of Brave Software; Leo launched 2023, agentic AI Browsing entered early access across all release channels May 2026
Company status
independent
Use cases & customers
Primary use cases
Target customers
Deployment options
Integrations
Built into the Brave browser with page awareness across webpages, PDFs, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and YouTube; grounded by the independent Brave Search API; BYOM connects locally running models via Ollama or any OpenAI compatible endpoint.
Sources & related URLs
Research sources
Agentic Index coverage score
6.5 / 14 capabilities · 46%
| Integrations & Tool Calling | Partial |
|---|---|
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Operates through the browser UI with page awareness spanning webpages, PDFs, Google Docs, Sheets, and YouTube; no connector catalog or tool calling, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Workflow Orchestration | Partial |
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AI Browsing completes multi step tasks like cross site research, product comparison, and cart filling, but the capability is in early access and disabled by default, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Knowledge Grounding & RAG | Partial |
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Live page awareness feeds active tab content as context without server upload, grounded by the independent Brave Search API index, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Human Oversight & Guardrails | Full |
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Alignment checking verifies intended actions at runtime, users maintain control over agent actions, and the mode is optional and off by default, Brave help documentation 2026-07-22 |
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| Security, Identity & Governance | Full |
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The agent runs in an isolated profile with no access to cookies, logins, or sensitive data, with no logging or retention, TEE backed verifiable privacy via NEAR.AI and Nvidia, published vulnerability research with responsible disclosures, and doubled bug bounties for agentic findings, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
|
| Observability & Auditability | Unable to verify |
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No run visibility, action logs, or audit tooling documented; the no retention privacy design cuts against logging, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Memory & State Persistence | Unable to verify |
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Sessions are deliberately not stored and inputs are not retained by design; persistence is explicitly against the privacy model, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Deployment & Data Residency | Partial |
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Client application across desktop and mobile platforms with a local only model option via BYOM keeping inference on device, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Prebuilt Agents, Templates & Packs | Partial |
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Skills provide reusable prompt shortcuts combinable with the agent (such as /fact-check), short of a prebuilt agent library, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Triggers & Channel Coverage | Unable to verify |
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All agentic activity is user initiated via direct requests or Skills shortcuts; no proactive or background trigger machinery documented, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Model Flexibility & Routing | Full |
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BYOM connects locally running models via Ollama or any OpenAI compatible endpoint, alongside bundled open models free and Claude and GPT class models in Premium, a documented full model choice surface including self hosted, TechRadar and Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| APIs, SDKs & MCP Extensibility | Unable to verify |
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BYOM is model configuration rather than a developer API, SDK, or MCP surface; none documented, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Testing, Debugging & Optimization | Unable to verify |
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No customer facing testing or evaluation tooling documented, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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| Browser & Computer Use | Full |
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Autonomous browsing shipped to early access across all release channels: navigating sites, filling carts, and completing multi step tasks in the isolated agent profile, Brave materials 2026-07-22 |
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The Agentic Index coverage score grades every vendor Full, Partial or Unable to verify against the same 14 buyer facing capabilities, from public evidence only. Each capability links to how all vendors in the index score on it. How this evidence is graded
Pricing
Free tier + Premium
freemium subscription
What is public
The freemium structure is public: Leo ships free in the Brave browser with open models and no account, and a Premium subscription adds frontier models. The Premium rate was not captured in retrieved materials.
Variable cost rationale
Free base tier and flat Premium subscription; BYOM local models remove even model costs for self hosted users, the lowest cost exposure in the consumer agent tier.
Sales call required
No, self serve available
Free / trial
Free tier with no account required
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Alternatives to Brave Leo AI Browsing
The closest documented capability profiles to Brave Leo AI Browsing among browser and computer-use agents tracked by Agentic Index, ordered by similarity on the same 14 point evidence the rankings use. No vendor pays for placement.
- Sigma Browser4.5 / 14A lighter documented profile than Brave Leo AI Browsing
- Astral4.5 / 14Adds documented Triggers & Channel Coverage
- Opera Neon8.5 / 14Adds documented Observability & Auditability and Memory & State Persistence, among othersBrave Leo AI Browsing vs Opera Neon →
- Claude for Chrome7.5 / 14Adds documented Triggers & Channel Coverage and APIs, SDKs & MCP Extensibility
- Induced AI4.0 / 14Adds documented Triggers & Channel Coverage and APIs, SDKs & MCP Extensibility
- Island11.0 / 14Adds documented Observability & Auditability and Triggers & Channel Coverage, among others
Similarity is computed from each vendor's Agentic Index coverage score evidence, axis by axis, not from the totals. How this evidence is graded