Onion Browser vs Tor Browser: Which One Do You Actually Need?

The names are almost interchangeable, the icons both feature an onion, and both get you onto the Tor network — so people assume they're the same app. They're not, and picking the wrong one (or a fake one) is a common first mistake. Here's the plain answer, by device.

Let's settle the core confusion in one paragraph, because it's simpler than the internet makes it sound. Tor Browser is the official browser built by the Tor Project, and it exists for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android. Onion Browser is a separate app, by a different developer, that exists only for iPhone and iPad — and it's the app the Tor Project officially recommends on iOS. They are two doors into the same network, and which door you use depends entirely on the device in your hand.

Why two names exist at all

The split isn't arbitrary — it's Apple's doing. Apple requires every browser on iOS to use its own WebKit engine, and forbids the kind of deep customisation Tor Browser relies on. That rule made it impossible for the Tor Project to ship Tor Browser on iPhone the way it does everywhere else. So an independent developer built Onion Browser within Apple's constraints, and the Tor Project endorsed it as the recommended iOS option. On every other platform, no such workaround is needed, and the official Tor Browser is the answer.

"Same network, same goal, two different doors — one shaped by Apple's rules, one not."

Which one should you use? Pick your device

How they compare

Beware the fakes

Because "onion browser" and "tor browser" are such heavily searched terms, they attract impostors: app-store listings and download sites bundling adware, or worse, into something that looks official. Two rules keep you safe:

• Desktop and Android: download only from torproject.org. Nothing else is the official Tor Browser.
• iOS: get Onion Browser from the App Store, and check the developer and reviews — the Tor Project links to the correct listing from its own site.

Anything promising to run Tor "online" in your normal browser, with no install, is not a Tor browser at all — it's a proxy that sees your traffic. Skip it.

Which search engine to use inside

Once you're on Tor, the browser is only half the setup — the search engine you use inside it matters just as much for privacy. Two cases:

• Searching the normal web privately: the built-in default is fine for everyday queries inside Tor.
• Finding .onion sites: you need a dark web search engine, because mainstream engines can't see Tor. Choose one that works without JavaScript — like Onion Search Engine — so it keeps working even at the browser's Safest security level, and keeps no logs of what you search.

That last point is the one people miss: raising your security level in Tor disables JavaScript, and a search engine that depends on scripts will quietly break or push you to lower your defences. A script-free engine never puts you in that position.

Getting started

Whichever app fits your device, the setup is quick and the safety habits are the same across both. Install from the official source, connect to Tor (use the built-in bridges option if Tor is blocked where you are), keep the security level at standard or higher, and verify .onion addresses before trusting them. Our full walkthrough — from download to first search — is in the beginner's guide to accessing .onion sites, and if the whole concept is new, start with what a .onion site actually is.

Frequently asked questions