YabArdia 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.
Dia is the AI browser The Browser Company builds now instead of Arc. It is Chromium-based, for Macs with Apple silicon and, since October 2026, Windows, and its AI chats with your tabs and the tools you connect.
Both run on Chromium on the Mac. Dia is The Browser Company’s AI browser, paid for its AI; Ardia is free, open source and has no AI, with Arc’s sidebar and uBlock Origin built in.
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 want the current browser from Arc’s makers, with Arc import and tabs down the side as a setting
- if you want AI that chats across your tabs, Gmail, Slack and Notion, and will pay for it
- if you want a free browser with an ad blocker and no AI
- 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 Dia, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Ardia | Dia | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Mantra (open-source project) | The Browser Company (Atlassian) | Serafim Korablev |
| Status | Updated | Updated | Updated |
| Runs on | Mac | Mac and Windows | Mac |
| Phone app | None; Mac only | None | Yab for iPhone (TestFlight) and Yab for Android, both in beta; they sync spaces, tabs, bookmarks, history and chats |
| Price | Free and open source | Browser free; AI on Better Answers $20/month or Better Days $100/month | 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 | A setting | Yes |
| Spaces | Yes | Yes | 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.
AIDia leads
Dia has AI built in; Ardia has less of it. Ardia has no AI of its own. Dia chats with your tabs and the tools you connect, like Gmail, Slack and Notion, and drafts mail and invites; there is no documented agent that works through sites.
Tabs and windowsArdia leads
Ardia has tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. Dia has tabs down the side as a setting, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.
Priceeven
Ardia: Free and open source. Dia: Browser free; AI on Better Answers $20/month or Better Days $100/month.
Where it runsDia leads
Ardia runs on Mac. Dia runs on Mac and Windows. On a Mac, Ardia needs macOS 14 or later and Dia needs macOS 14 or later. Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. Dia has no phone app.
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. Dia has an ad blocker built in. Dia’s chat goes through its servers to Anthropic, OpenAI and Google; chats and history stay on your Mac, and content sharing is on by default, kept 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
Dia
- AI costs $20 or $100 a month for new users; the free plan has none after a 14-day trial
- On a Mac it needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later
- Its AI chats and drafts, but there is no documented agent that works through sites
- No MCP server or command line for outside agents
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 6, 2026Dia: Dia 1.0 for Windows released
- August 17, 2026Dia: Paid AI plans started rolling out to new Mac users
- October 21, 2025Dia: Atlassian completed its acquisition of The Browser Company
Questions
Is Ardia free?
Yes. Free and open source.
Is Dia free?
The browser is; its AI isn’t. Browser free; AI on Better Answers $20/month or Better Days $100/month.
Which has an AI agent, Ardia or Dia?
Neither has an agent that does tasks in your pages. Ardia has no AI of its own. Dia chats with your tabs and the tools you connect, like Gmail, Slack and Notion, and drafts mail and invites; there is no documented agent that works through sites.
Which runs on Windows, Ardia or Dia?
Dia does. Ardia runs on Mac.
Do Ardia and Dia have phone apps?
Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. Dia has no phone app.
Can I move from Dia to Ardia?
Yes: Ardia’s own help says it brings in from Dia.
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 home page
- Ardia repo (GPL-3.0, Chromium, README features)
- Ardia 0.2.42 release
- Dia plans and pricing FAQ
- Dia home page (macOS and Windows, ad and tracker blocking)
- Dia changelog (Chromium M155, Windows 1.0, tab sleep, sidebar or top tabs, AppleScript, memory retired)
- Dia release notes 1.52.0 (Oct 8, 2026)
- Dia download FAQ (import from Chrome, Safari, Edge, Arc)
- Dia security (AI providers, retention, local storage)
- MacRumors: Dia generally available, macOS 14 and Apple silicon
- PiunikaWeb: Dia $20 and $100 plans (Aug 18, 2026)
- Atlassian completes acquisition (Oct 21, 2025)
- Dia home page: ’Available for macOS and Windows’
- PiunikaWeb: Dia ’iPhone Tabs’ menu spotted, no public app (2026-08-25)
- 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.