Ardia vs Arc

We make Yab, the third column.facts checked Oct 9 ↓

Ardia is a free, open-source Chromium browser for the Mac that pairs Arc’s sidebar with Dia’s look: pinned tabs, profiles you swipe between, Split View, the Chrome Web Store and uBlock Origin built in.

Arc is The Browser Company’s Chromium browser for Mac and Windows, with tabs down the side, spaces, folders and Split View. Its shutdown was announced October 22, 2026: new accounts are closed, and the desktop app will stop working December 22, 2026.

Ardia is a young open-source browser built to feel like Arc: its sidebar, pinned tabs and gradient themes on Chromium, and it imports Arc’s spaces and pinned tabs. Arc will stop working on macOS and Windows on December 22, 2026. The catch in moving: Ardia is Mac only, on Apple Silicon, and has no AI.

Arc shutdown update: October 22, 2026. Official dates, export instructions and what to do next. Other feature facts were checked October 9, 2026.

The short answer

Pick Ardia

if you want Arc’s sidebar on Chromium, free and open source
if you want Chrome extensions and uBlock Origin built in
if you don’t want AI in your browser

Pick Arc

if you already use Arc and are preparing to move before December 22, 2026
if you need to export your Arc spaces and tabs before the desktop app stops working

Or Yabours

if you miss Arc and want spaces, pins and folders kept, on a Mac
if you already pay for Claude or ChatGPT and want it to work in your signed-in tabs

At a glance

Ardia and Arc, with Yab beside them for a Mac.

Ardia vs Arc
What	Ardia	Arc	Yab
Made by	Mantra (open-source project)	The Browser Company (Atlassian)	Serafim Korablev
Status	Updated	Closing December 22, 2026	Updated
Runs on	Mac	Mac and Windows	Mac
Phone app	None; Mac only	Arc Search on iOS and Android; AI, sign-in and sync end November 23, 2026	Yab for iPhone (TestFlight) and Yab for Android, both in beta; they sync spaces, tabs, bookmarks, history and chats
Price	Free and open source	Free for existing members until the desktop app stops working December 22, 2026	Free; its AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan
AI	No AI	Chat about pages, on its own AI service	An agent that works in pages, on your Claude or ChatGPT plan
Driven by outside agents	No	No	MCP and a command line
Engine	Chromium	Chromium	WebKit
Tabs down the side	Yes	Yes	Yes
Spaces	Yes	Yes	Yes
Split View	Yes	Yes	Yes
Extensions	Chrome Web Store	Chrome Web Store	Chrome Web Store
Ad blocker	Built in	No	Built in
Open source	Yes	No	No

Arc’s shutdown announcement checked October 22, 2026; other features and prices checked October 9, 2026. Prices are per month, in US dollars.

Where they differ

What separates them, area by area. Where one plainly has more, it says who; where it comes down to taste, it says so.

AIArc leads

Arc has AI built in; Ardia has less of it. Ardia has no AI of its own. Arc Max helpers tidy tab titles and downloads, preview links and put ChatGPT in the command bar; Ask on Page was removed in August 2025, and there is no agent.

Tabs and windowseven

Both have tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.

PriceArc leads

Ardia: Free and open source. Arc: Free for existing members until the desktop app stops working December 22, 2026.

Where it runsArc leads

Ardia runs on Mac. Arc runs on Mac and Windows. On a Mac, Ardia needs macOS 14 or later and Arc needs macOS 13 or later. Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. On the phone, Arc: Arc Search on iOS and Android; AI, sign-in and sync end November 23, 2026.

Engine and extensionsa matter of taste

Both are built on Chromium, as Chrome is, so sites work as they do in Chrome. Both take extensions from the Chrome Web Store.

PrivacyArdia leads

Ardia has an ad blocker built in and open code. Ardia syncs end to end encrypted through a folder in your own iCloud Drive, with no server of its maker in between; crash reports are opt-in. Arc has no ad blocker of its own. Arc accounts will be deactivated December 22, 2026, and their personal data deleted within 30 days; export what you want to keep before then.

UpdatesArdia leads

Ardia is updated as usual. Arc: Shutdown announced October 22, 2026: new accounts are closed, and Arc for macOS and Windows stops working December 22, 2026.

What their pages don’t lead with

Real limits, from the makers’ own words and our own use.

Ardia

Mac only, Apple Silicon, macOS 14 or later
New: first public in 2026, from a small open-source team
No phone app
No AI of its own

Arc

New Arc accounts closed October 22, 2026
Arc for macOS and Windows stops working December 22, 2026
Arc Search loses AI, sign-in and sync November 23, 2026; iOS keeps basic browsing
Arc accounts deactivate December 22, 2026; their personal data is deleted within 30 days
Arc says Arc Search for Android will be fully deprecated and removed from Google Play and installed devices December 22, 2026
No ad blocker of its own

Yab, honestly

Mac only on the desktop: macOS 15.4 or later, no Windows; the iPhone and Android apps are in beta
New: first released in September 2026
Its AI needs a Claude or ChatGPT plan; ChatGPT’s free plan may work with low limits
WebKit by default, as in Safari; Chrome’s engine is a choice in beta (Nightly) for sites made only for Chrome
Closed source

What changed lately

October 27, 2026Ardia: 0.2.42 released, with a nightly channel beside it
October 22, 2026Arc: Shutdown announced: new accounts closed, mobile AI and sync end November 23, and Arc for macOS and Windows stops working December 22, 2026
October 21, 2025Arc: Atlassian completed its purchase of The Browser Company
August 28, 2025Arc: Ask On Page removed from Arc Max
May 26, 2025Arc: The Browser Company stopped feature work on Arc to focus on Dia

Questions

Is Ardia free?

Yes. Free and open source.

Is Arc free?

Yes. Free for existing members until the desktop app stops working December 22, 2026.

Which has an AI agent, Ardia or Arc?

Neither has an agent that does tasks in your pages. Ardia has no AI of its own. Arc Max helpers tidy tab titles and downloads, preview links and put ChatGPT in the command bar; Ask on Page was removed in August 2025, and there is no agent.

Which runs on Windows, Ardia or Arc?

Arc does. Ardia runs on Mac.

Do Ardia and Arc have phone apps?

Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. On the phone, Arc: Arc Search on iOS and Android; AI, sign-in and sync end November 23, 2026.

Can I move from Arc to Ardia?

Yes: Ardia’s own help says it brings in from Arc.

When does Arc shut down?

Arc for macOS and Windows stops working on December 22, 2026, The Browser Company announced on October 22. New accounts are already closed, and Arc Search loses AI, sign-in and sync on November 23. Export your data from Arc’s Settings, under Advanced, before then.

Is there a third option on a Mac?

Yab, Yet Another Browser, is free for the Mac: tabs down the side with spaces, folders and Split View, as in Ardia; an agent that works in your signed-in tabs, on the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for. Claude Code, Codex and any MCP client can drive it too. It runs on WebKit, the engine Safari uses, with Chrome’s engine as a choice in beta, and takes Chrome extensions. It is new, and its iPhone and Android apps are in beta.

More comparisons

Ardia vs Vivaldi Ardia vs Zen Ardia vs Orion Ardia vs SigmaOS Ardia vs Chrome Ardia vs Safari Ardia vs Edge Ardia alternatives Yab vs Ardia Vivaldi vs Arc Zen vs Arc Orion vs Arc SigmaOS vs Arc Arc vs Chrome Arc vs Safari Arc vs Edge Arc alternatives Yab vs Arc

Sources. Arc’s shutdown announcement read October 22, 2026; other sources read October 9, 2026. Something out of date? Write to hello@serafimlabs.io and we fix it.

Yab, Yet Another Browser.

Free for the Mac. Arc’s sidebar, your own Claude or ChatGPT as the agent, Chrome extensions on WebKit.

it’s freeMove from Arc Download