I’m an engineer who can’t stop tinkering. I’ve always had a head full of ideas, and for years I felt frustrated that the basic act of browsing the web—the thing we all do daily—just didn't fit how my mind works. My ADHD brain thrives on branching tangents and interconnected thoughts, but most browsers force us into linear navigation, a back button, and a mess of tabs. I started building Horse Browser as a side project to solve my own problem, without realizing it would turn into a new space where people could see their thoughts laid out more clearly.

Using modern browsers can feel like being trapped in a windowless casino: tabs multiply endlessly, important tasks get buried, and there's no meaningful sense of structure or hierarchy. We’ve normalized this so completely that we rarely stop to ask why. But when you do, it’s striking: we’re traversing the biggest library in human history using an interface that often works against our natural thought processes.

“It's not just yet another browser to be added to the pile but one that actually attempts to rethink how a browser should work on a fundamental level.”

— Alex Blake, Digital Trends

From the start, I didn’t fully see why I needed a different browser—aren’t tabs and a back button good enough? Yet after two years of development and thousands of users, a clear pattern emerged: Horse Browser resonates with people who don’t think in straight lines. Those with ADHD feel more relaxed exploring side ideas without losing track of what they were doing. Autistic users say the organized side trails bring them a calm sense of order they never found in a traditional browser. Ultimately, it turned into more than just a personal passion project; it became a browser for those who see the web in their own unique way.

This isn’t about patching a few UI problems. It’s about building a browsing experience that supports diverse thinking styles. With Horse Browser, you can go down a Mario Kart rabbit hole without losing that page about scheduling a dentist appointment. There’s room for structured research and spontaneous exploration—together. What began as a tool for me has become a home for others who’ve always felt like traditional browsers were designed with someone else in mind.

When Tim Berners-Lee created the first web browser at CERN in 1990, he called it “WorldWideWeb” (later renamed Nexus). His vision was simple and intuitive: each document opened in its own window, mirroring how most desktop software worked at the time. One document, one window. For the way we naturally move between pieces of information, it made sense.

But early ‘90s machines were often text-only terminals. Graphical interfaces were a luxury. The web needed to run everywhere, so they created the Line Mode Browser, relying on a single window with back and forward buttons. That choice still haunts us today— the entire notion of a single window rewriting itself is a legacy from those text-based constraints.

By 1993, Mosaic wrapped that single-window approach in a nice GUI, but it stuck to the line-mode concept. Netscape followed, then Internet Explorer, then Chrome. Suddenly, we were juggling hundreds of tabs, building on top of a design that never meant to handle such complexity.

Horse Browser pushes back against that. Instead of throwing every page into a single linear history, each link spawns its own “trail.” You can see your path clearly and branch off new ideas without overwriting the old ones. It’s closer to Berners-Lee’s original multi-window idea, reimagined for modern computing—and delightfully different from the tab overload that’s become our default.

The Line Mode Browser introduced ideas like typing URLs, using a single window, and employing back/forward buttons. Useful workarounds in 1991, yet a big reason so many of us drown in tabs and lose our place today.

Mosaic stuck with that linear approach. Netscape, Internet Explorer, and eventually Chrome did the same. The result? Endless tabs stacked on a design never intended to handle so many pages.

Horse Browser breaks free from that. We don’t cram everything into a single window. Each link opens its own “trail” so you can see exactly how you arrived where you are—and where you can go next. It borrows the spirit of Nexus but adapts it to our modern world.

A Historical Mistake

Graphical browsers could have adopted Berners-Lee’s multi-window concept from the start. Instead, they doubled down on the single-threaded, line-mode style. We’ve been stuck in that compromise ever since, and most of us never realized there was a better way.

“Our frustration with endless tabs isn’t inevitable—it’s the legacy of hardware constraints from the early ’90s.”

Line-mode browsing was a hack that made sense at the time, but we’ve outgrown it. Horse Browser proves we can revisit those assumptions and come out with something that feels far more natural and spacious.

Why Trails Work

“The app is really distinguished by a central concept: there is no tab in the traditional sense here… It’s a very original way of conceiving Internet browsing.”

— Nicolas Furno, MacGeneration

In Horse Browser, clicking a link opens a brand-new “trail,” listed in a sidebar that records every path you’ve explored. Instead of constantly jumping forward and backward in a single tab, you hop between these trails. You don’t overwrite the page you came from, so you never lose that moment of insight or curiosity.

Many “browser improvements” simply tack on more features to the same old concept: vertical tabs, tree-style tabs, tab groups. In Horse Browser, a link is a new place to stand—no “back” button required. That small shift in perspective can change everything about how you explore and organize information.

It’s not “spatial browsing” with windows cluttering your screen. Think of it more like a visual record of your session, neatly branching out wherever your curiosity takes you. One click to create a new branch, one click to jump back. It turns out you don’t need a back button when you’re not reusing the same page.

“Horse Browser is a beautifully designed browser. It's minimalist, with visual elements that are carefully considered, from typography to color and translucency.”

— Alex Blake, Digital Trends

I wanted Horse Browser to be a calm, uncluttered space that honors your unique way of thinking. It turned out that a lot of folks were looking for exactly that.

Embracing the Challenge

Of course, rewriting fundamental browser behavior comes with surprises. Some sites assume a single tab with a back button, so Horse Browser occasionally exposes brittle website assumptions.

What sounds simple—creating a new trail for every link—required deep engineering. Two years of focused development, a professional security audit, and daily feedback from real users shaped Horse Browser into a browser that respects your thought processes. We track nested branches, monitor memory usage, and manage performance in ways that normal browsers just don’t.

“The more seamlessly software works, the more invisible its complexity becomes.”

Take a small detail like email deletion in macOS Mail: if you delete a message, it automatically selects the next one—unless you previously chose the one above. Those little nuances make software feel human. Horse Browser applies that same ethos to how it branches and tracks your browsing journey. It’s not just a tab tree bolted onto a browser; it’s a fresh way of honoring the user’s context at every step.

For me, the biggest breakthrough wasn’t just technical. It was recognizing how line-mode browsing fought the natural rhythms of exploration. By going back to a multi-window concept (adapted for modern realities), we can finally experience the web in a more free-flowing, intuitive way.

Technical Implementation

The earliest version of Horse Browser was a simple React app that used iframes to load different sites. It was enough to prove the idea, but Wikipedia and other sites block iframe usage, which shattered my “follow the rabbit hole” demo. That kind of limitation was exactly what I wanted to overcome.

After considering alternatives like Tauri, I chose Electron because it let me render a modern UI while safely running external web content. I spent Horse Browser’s early revenue on a professional security audit by an Electron maintainer to ensure it would be robust enough for a browser. That might sound unusual for a one-person project, but I wanted to do this the right way.

Today, around 1,100 paying users depend on Horse Browser daily. It’s still just me at the helm, refining every design decision and line of code through direct feedback from the community. And because I answer to users—not ad networks or external investors—I can stay focused on evolving the trail-based browsing experience that Horse Browser’s supporters love.

The Unexpected Journey

I assumed building a browser would be straightforward. I’d used plenty—how hard could it be? But I learned that line-mode assumptions run deep, in both code and culture. The moment you try to rethink that, you unearth layers of tradition and expectation built up over decades.

The response to Horse Browser has been equally layered. Some people immediately get excited and expand upon its ideas; others hate it on principle. There’s something inherently personal about a browser—it’s not just a tool, it’s an extension of how we see ourselves online. Overcoming that emotional barrier was as big a challenge as any engineering puzzle.

A New Chapter

“Horse Browser is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in this space… The resulting UI is unique, appealing, and clever.”

— Niléane, MacStories

Horse Browser isn’t about big windows and fancy gestures. It’s about a simple idea: open every link in its own trail, so your thoughts can roam without losing your bearings. Everything else—state management, performance optimizations, security—exists to serve that guiding principle.

For those who struggle with conventional browsers, especially folks who crave non-linear exploration, Horse Browser offers a different path. And for me, as an engineer, it’s a testament to what’s possible when we challenge decades of inherited design. Maybe we’ve all been marching to the beat of line-mode browsers for too long.

Horse Browser represents more than just a new browser—it’s proof that different ways of thinking deserve different tools. What started as a personal fix has become a place for everyone who ever felt stifled by browsers. Whether you’re cataloging thousands of products for work, chasing obscure technical documentation, or just daydreaming about Mario Kart exploits, Horse Browser respects your curiosity and your need for order. It’s a tool that finally feels like “me”—and it turns out, a lot of people feel the same way. And that makes me incredibly happy.