# Brave Leo review: KYC policy, privacy and safety grades

> Brave Leo is an AI service. Its terms put it at KYC level 0 of 4: ID never required. NoKYC Score grades it 8.4/10 for privacy (strong) and 5.8/10 for safety (fair). In its favour: no account needed, no email needed and no phone number. No incidents are on record.

Source: NoKYC Score, "Brave Leo review", reviewed 22 Oct 2026, https://nokycscore.com/service/brave-leo

## Key facts
- **Category:** Private AI
- **KYC level:** 0 of 4: ID never required
- **Grades:** Privacy 8.4/10, Safety 5.8/10
- **Sign-up:** No account needed
- **Fees:** Free tier; paid Premium tier available
- **Incidents on record:** 0
- **Last reviewed:** 22 Oct 2026
- **Official website:** https://brave.com/leo/

## What it is
Leo is the AI assistant built into the Brave browser. Brave's product page says the free version needs no account or login, that chats are not retained or shared and are not used for model training, and that the company does not collect identifiers such as IP addresses that could be linked to a user. Chat history can optionally be stored locally on the device. A paid Premium tier exists, and the page says a Premium account is created only to verify the subscription. Leo runs inside the browser rather than as a standalone website, so using it means installing Brave. The browser's source code, including its AI chat component, is published on GitHub.

## What the terms say about ID
Product page states "No account or login is required" for the free tier.

## Features and warnings
- **Identity:** ID never required: yes; No account needed: yes; No email needed: yes; No phone number: yes
- **Payment:** Accepts Monero: not stated; Accepts Lightning: not stated
- **Access:** Tor onion address: not stated; Works without JavaScript: not stated
- **Trust:** Open source: yes; No-logs policy: yes; Independent audit: not stated; Company named: not stated; 5+ years operating: not stated
- **Warnings:** May ask for ID: not in terms; Email required: not in terms; Phone number required: not in terms; Closed source: not in terms; Nobody accountable: not in terms

## Questions
### Does Brave Leo require KYC?
Brave Leo is rated KYC level 0 of 4 on this site: ID never required. Product page states "No account or login is required" for the free tier.

### Is Brave Leo safe to use?
Brave Leo has a Safety grade of 5.8 out of 10 and a Privacy grade of 8.4 out of 10. No incidents are on record. Evidence level: documentation reviewed.

### Is Brave Leo legit?
Brave Leo is a working AI service. Being real is not the same as being safe: its Safety grade here is 5.8 out of 10, built from custody, liquidity, track record and incidents.

### Is Brave Leo a scam?
NoKYC Score does not label services as scams; it records documented incidents with their sources and outcomes. No incidents are on record for Brave Leo.

### Do I need an account or email to use Brave Leo?
No account needed.

### What fees does Brave Leo charge?
Free tier; paid Premium tier available. Fees were recorded from Brave Leo's own pages and can change; check before you send.

### Does Brave Leo have a Tor onion address?
No official onion address was found on Brave Leo's own pages.

### Can I use Brave Leo over Tor?
Brave Leo does not publish an official onion address.

## Sources
- https://brave.com/leo/
- https://github.com/brave/brave-core/tree/master/components/ai_chat

How grades are calculated: https://nokycscore.com/methodology