You use multiple browsers. Links keep opening in the wrong one. You’ve decided to fix this.

Good news: there are three solid options. Bad news: they work completely differently, and choosing the wrong one means more friction, not less.

I built BrowserRouter, so I’m biased. I’ll be honest about that — and about when the other options are better choices.

Here’s how to pick.

The Core Difference

All three apps solve the same problem (links opening in the wrong browser), but their philosophies are completely different:

Choosy says: “Tell me your rules, and I’ll follow them forever.” Browserosaurus says: “I’ll ask you every time. You decide.” BrowserRouter says: “I’ll open links in whichever browser you used last.”

Which approach fits you depends on how you think about browser routing.

Choosy: Rules-Based Routing

Price: $10 (one-time) Website: choosy.app

Choosy lets you define routing rules. Examples:

You program your link behavior once. Choosy handles it forever.

The experience: You spend 15-30 minutes thinking through your rules and setting them up. Then links route automatically based on those rules. When your workflow changes, you update the rules.

When Choosy shines:

You’re a developer who always wants GitHub in Firefox and staging links in Chrome. Choosy handles this perfectly — URL patterns and source app rules make this automatic.

Your company uses specific apps that should always open in your work browser. Rule: “Links from Jira, Confluence, and company Slack → Chrome.” Done.

You have strong opinions about specific link types. Google Docs in Chrome. News sites in Safari. Documentation in Firefox. Choosy lets you encode these preferences.

When Choosy frustrates:

You don’t have predictable rules. If your browser choice depends on what you’re doing in the moment (not where the link came from), rules can’t capture that.

You hate configuration. Choosy requires upfront thinking. If you want something that “just works,” this isn’t it.

$10 feels like a lot for a utility. It’s a fair price for what you get, but free alternatives exist.

Verdict: Choosy is for people who think in systems. If you can articulate rules for your browser routing, it’ll execute them perfectly.

Browserosaurus: Manual Selection

Price: Free, open source Website: browserosaurus.com

Browserosaurus shows a popup for every link. You see all your browsers. You click the one you want. The link opens there.

No rules. No guessing. Pure manual control.

The experience: Click a link → popup appears → click a browser icon → page opens. Every time, for every link.

When Browserosaurus shines:

You’re paranoid about links opening in the wrong place. Some people really want to consciously choose every time. Browserosaurus guarantees that.

You click fewer than 10 links per day. If you’re not clicking dozens of links, the popup isn’t that annoying.

You don’t trust automatic systems. If the idea of an app guessing which browser you want makes you uncomfortable, manual selection removes that uncertainty.

When Browserosaurus frustrates:

You click a lot of links. The popup adds friction to every single one. Click 30 links a day, and you’re making 30 extra decisions.

You want flow, not interruption. Even a fast popup breaks your momentum. You clicked a link because you wanted to see a page, not because you wanted to think about browsers.

Your choice is usually obvious. If 90% of the time you’d just pick “whatever browser I’m in,” Browserosaurus makes you do that manually.

Verdict: Browserosaurus is for people who want certainty over convenience. You’ll never be surprised by which browser opens — but you’ll always be prompted.

BrowserRouter: Automatic Context-Following

Price: Free, open source Website: browserrouter.app

BrowserRouter tracks which browser you’re currently using. When you click a link, it opens in your most recently focused browser.

No rules. No popups. Just context-aware routing.

The experience: You’re working in Chrome. Click a link. Chrome opens it. Switch to Safari. Click a link. Safari opens it. You don’t think about it — links follow your focus.

When BrowserRouter shines:

Your browser choice depends on context, not rules. “I want links to open wherever I’m working” is the whole point of BrowserRouter.

You hate configuration. Install, set as default browser, done. No rules to think through, no decisions to make.

You value privacy. No URL logging, no analytics, no network requests. Open source, so you can verify.

You want free and simple. It costs nothing, and setup takes 30 seconds.

When BrowserRouter frustrates:

You need hard rules. “Slack links must always go to Chrome” isn’t possible — BrowserRouter follows your focus, not app-specific rules.

You frequently switch contexts mid-task. If you’re in Safari but click a link you want in Chrome, BrowserRouter sends it to Safari. You’d need to switch browsers first, or copy-paste.

You want manual control. BrowserRouter follows a simple rule—it doesn’t ask which browser you want.

Verdict: BrowserRouter is for people who want zero friction. If “open links where I’m working” describes your need, it handles this automatically.

Decision Flowchart

Do you have specific rules in mind? (“Slack links always Chrome, GitHub always Firefox”) → Yes: Get Choosy. It’s built for this. → No: Keep reading.

Do you want to choose every link manually? → Yes: Get Browserosaurus. Complete control, no guessing. → No: Keep reading.

Do you just want links to follow your current browser? → Yes: Get BrowserRouter. Zero config, automatic routing.

What About OpenIn?

OpenIn ($10) is like Choosy but handles more than browsers — file types, email clients, URL schemes. If you need to route .pdf files to specific apps or control mailto: links, OpenIn is more comprehensive.

For browser routing alone? Overkill.

My Honest Recommendation

Start with BrowserRouter.

Not because I built it — because it’s free and takes 30 seconds. If automatic context-following solves your problem, you’re done. No money spent, no configuration required.

If you find yourself wanting rules (“this should always go there”), switch to Choosy. It’s $10 and worth it for rule-based routing.

If you realize you want manual control over every link, switch to Browserosaurus.

The beauty of all three being cheap or free: you can try them without risk. Start simple, upgrade to complex only if you need it.

Quick links: