Ardia vs Helium

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.

Helium is a free, open-source Chromium browser by imput, still in beta, with ads blocked by default and Google’s AI and telemetry taken out, on Mac, Windows and Linux.

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 Helium

if you want Chrome’s extensions without Google’s AI or telemetry
if you want ads blocked from the first launch
if you use Linux too

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 Helium, with Yab beside them for a Mac.

Ardia vs Helium
What	Ardia	Helium	Yab
Made by	Mantra (open-source project)	imput	Serafim Korablev
Status	Updated	Updated	Updated
Runs on	Mac	Mac, Windows and Linux	Mac
Phone app	None; Mac only	None; desktop only. An iOS build teased in Aug 2026 is being rethought	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 and open source	Free; its AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan
AI	No AI	No AI	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	No	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	Yes	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.

AIeven

Neither has AI built in. Ardia has no AI of its own. Helium has no AI: Chromium’s Gemini features are taken out.

Tabs and windowsArdia leads

Ardia has tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. Helium has tabs down the side as a setting, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.

Priceeven

The same for both: free and open source.

Where it runsHelium leads

Ardia runs on Mac. Helium runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. On a Mac, Ardia needs macOS 14 or later and Helium needs macOS 13 or later. Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. Helium has no phone app: desktop only. An iOS build teased in Aug 2026 is being rethought.

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.

Privacyeven

Both have 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. Helium makes no requests on first launch and has no analytics; updates, filter lists and extensions go through its services only once you approve.

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

Helium

Still in beta
No password manager or sync yet
No Widevine, so some streaming services won’t play
No phone app yet

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
March 13, 2026Helium: Vertical tabs left experimental status (0.10.3)
February 15, 2026Helium: Vertical tabs layout added (0.9.1)

Questions

Is Ardia free?

Yes. Free and open source.

Is Helium free?

Yes. Free and open source.

Which has an AI agent, Ardia or Helium?

Neither has an agent that does tasks in your pages. Ardia has no AI of its own. Helium has no AI: Chromium’s Gemini features are taken out.

Which runs on Windows, Ardia or Helium?

Helium does. Ardia runs on Mac.

Do Ardia and Helium have phone apps?

Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. Helium has no phone app: desktop only. An iOS build teased in Aug 2026 is being rethought.

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 Arc Ardia vs Vivaldi Ardia vs Zen Ardia vs Orion Ardia vs Chrome Ardia vs Safari Ardia vs Edge Ardia alternatives Yab vs Ardia Helium vs Chrome Helium vs Safari Helium vs Edge Helium vs Firefox Helium vs Brave Helium vs Opera Helium vs Arc Helium alternatives Yab vs Helium

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 Helium Download