Brave Software releases Origin for a paid, bloat-free browsing experience
Brave Software has announced the public release of Origin, a paid minimalist, bloat-free version of its browser that strips out cryptocurrency, AI, rewards, and other monetization-focused features.
The browser maker says Brave Origin is designed for users who want a more streamlined, privacy-focused browser without the company's optional revenue-generating services and integrations.
"Today, Brave is announcing the release of Brave Origin, a paid version of the browser for users who don't need all of Brave's out-of-the-box features, but still want the privacy that only Brave offers," the company explains.
According to Brave, the browser turns off features such as Brave Rewards, Brave Wallet, Brave VPN promotions, Brave Leo AI, Brave News, Brave Talk, sponsored images, and other promotional or monetization components included in the standard browser.
The company says Brave Origin continues to include Brave Shields, the browser's built-in privacy and ad-blocking protections.
Brave Origin is available as both a standalone browser download and as an upgrade option for existing Brave installations.
The company says the license is a one-time purchase of $59.99 US that can be used to activate the software on up to 10 devices. Users installing the Linux version can get Brave Origin for free.
The Brave Origin launch has raised some criticism from users who argue that Brave is effectively charging users to remove features that many already considered unnecessary and unwanted in the first place.
"My criticism is that Brave started by selling users a browser that protected them from the web's monetization layers. Over time, the browser itself became another monetization layer," a user posted on Reddit.
"And now Brave Origin basically confirms the problem: if you want the clean, stripped-down, privacy-focused version, that becomes the paid product."
Others pointed out that many of the features being removed can already be disabled in the free Brave version via enterprise group policies.
Due to this, some users questioned whether Brave Origin introduces any meaningful differences beyond packaging those configuration settings into an easier-to-use interface.
Defenders of the project argue that most users are unlikely to manually configure enterprise policies, making Brave Origin a more accessible way to obtain a cleaner privacy-oriented browser, while also supporting the privacy project.
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