YabArdia vs Comet
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.
Comet is Perplexity’s free Chromium browser for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with Perplexity’s search and an assistant that can act on pages for you.
The short answer
- 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
- if you use Perplexity and want its search and agent in the browser
- if you want one AI browser on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android
- if you want a free Chromium browser with an ad blocker built in
- 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 Comet, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Ardia | Perplexity Comet | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Mantra (open-source project) | Perplexity | Serafim Korablev |
| Status | Updated | Updated | Updated |
| Runs on | Mac | Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android | Mac |
| Phone app | None; Mac only | iPhone, iPad and Android; on iPhone it syncs bookmarks and history with desktop Comet | 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; Comet Plus $5/month; Perplexity Pro $20/month or Max $200/month for more AI and agent use | Free; its AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan |
| AI | No AI | An agent that works in 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 | Not stated | Yes |
| Spaces | Yes | Not stated | Yes |
| Split View | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Extensions | Chrome Web Store | Chrome Web Store | Chrome Web Store |
| Ad blocker | Built in | Built in | Built in |
| Open source | Yes | No | No |
Checked October 9, 2026 on each maker’s own pages, linked under Sources. 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.
AIComet leads
Only Comet has an agent that clicks, types and finishes tasks in your pages. Ardia has no AI of its own. Comet’s assistant answers about pages and open tabs and can click, fill forms and navigate for you, asking before it acts.
Tabs and windowsArdia leads
Ardia has tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. Comet has Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.
PriceComet leads
Ardia: Free and open source. Comet: Free; Comet Plus $5/month; Perplexity Pro $20/month or Max $200/month for more AI and agent use.
Where it runsComet leads
Ardia runs on Mac. Comet runs on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android. On a Mac, Ardia needs macOS 14 or later and Comet needs macOS 13 or later. Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. On the phone, Comet: iPhone, iPad and Android; on iPhone it syncs bookmarks and history with desktop Comet.
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. Comet has an ad blocker built in. Comet keeps history, cookies and passwords on your device unless you sync; the assistant sends the page it needs to Perplexity, kept up to 30 days.
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
Perplexity Comet
- Free use of the assistant is limited; more agent use is Pro at $20 or Max at $200
- No MCP server or command line from Perplexity for coding agents
- Researchers showed prompt-injection attacks on its agent in 2025 (CometJacking)
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
- August 4, 2026Comet: Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction Amazon won against Comet’s shopping agent
- March 18, 2026Comet: Comet for iPhone released
- October 2, 2025Comet: Browser made free for everyone worldwide
Questions
Is Ardia free?
Yes. Free and open source.
Is Perplexity Comet free?
Yes, with limits on its AI. Free; Comet Plus $5/month; Perplexity Pro $20/month or Max $200/month for more AI and agent use.
Which has an AI agent, Ardia or Comet?
Comet. Ardia has no AI of its own. Comet’s assistant answers about pages and open tabs and can click, fill forms and navigate for you, asking before it acts.
Which runs on Windows, Ardia or Comet?
Comet does. Ardia runs on Mac.
Do Ardia and Comet have phone apps?
Comet does. Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. On the phone, Comet: iPhone, iPad and Android; on iPhone it syncs bookmarks and history with desktop Comet.
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 in your signed-in tabs like Comet’s, 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 home page
- Ardia repo (GPL-3.0, Chromium, README features)
- Ardia 0.2.42 release
- Comet help: Operating System Requirements
- Comet help: What is Comet’s browser engine?
- Comet help: Browser features (split view, ad block, extensions, profiles)
- Comet help: Import data
- Comet help: Key settings (memory saver, tab groups)
- Comet help: Built-in password manager
- Comet help: Local data and device storage
- Comet help: Assistant privacy and data use
- Comet Quick Start Guide (Chrome import)
- Comet Assistant vs Agent
- Perplexity changelog Nov 14, 2025 (assistant asks approval before acting)
- Perplexity blog: Introducing Comet Plus ($5)
- Perplexity help: Perplexity Max
- Perplexity help: Local and remote MCPs
- App Store listing (iOS 18+, Pro $20, Max $200)
- TechCrunch: Comet now free (Oct 2, 2025)
- TechCrunch: Comet on Android (Nov 20, 2025)
- MacRumors: Comet on iPhone (Mar 18, 2026)
- Jones Day: Ninth Circuit vacates injunction (Aug 4, 2026)
- LayerX: CometJacking
- Community comet-mcp (not by Perplexity)
- Google Play: Comet: AI Browser & Assistant (updated Sep 24, 2026)
- Comet Help Center: Sync Between Devices
- Perplexity changelog: Comet iOS launch, pair mobile and desktop with device sync (Mar 27, 2026)
- Perplexity blog: Comet is now available on iOS
- Perplexity blog: Comet for Android is here
- MacStories: Comet for iOS review (sync chain, iPad version)
- Yab Manual: Bringing in from another browser
- Yab Manual: Connecting Claude or ChatGPT
- Yab Manual: Extensions
- Yab Manual: Yab’s tools over MCP
- Yab Manual: Privacy
- Yab for iPhone on TestFlight
Yab, Yet Another Browser.
Free for the Mac. Arc’s sidebar, your own Claude or ChatGPT as the agent, Chrome extensions on WebKit.