Ardia vs SigmaOS

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.

SigmaOS is a Mac browser on WebKit that treats tabs like a to-do list, in workspaces down the side, with an AI assistant called Airis.

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 SigmaOS

if you want workspaces and tabs you mark done, on a Mac
if you browse by keyboard, with single-key shortcuts
if you prefer WebKit to Chromium and want spaces

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 SigmaOS, with Yab beside them for a Mac.

Ardia vs SigmaOS
What	Ardia	SigmaOS	Yab
Made by	Mantra (open-source project)	SigmaOS Inc. (London)	Serafim Korablev
Status	Updated	No release notes since February 2025	Updated
Runs on	Mac	Mac	Mac
Phone app	None; Mac only	None; Mac only. iOS has been on its roadmap since 2021	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; Personal Pro $20/month or Personal Max $30/month for more AI	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	WebKit	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	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.

AISigmaOS leads

SigmaOS has AI built in; Ardia has less of it. Ardia has no AI of its own. Airis chats about the page you are on, sums it up, looks things up and translates; no agent.

Tabs and windowsArdia leads

Ardia has tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. SigmaOS has tabs down the side, spaces and Split View.

PriceSigmaOS leads

Ardia: Free and open source. SigmaOS: Free; Personal Pro $20/month or Personal Max $30/month for more AI.

Where it runseven

Both run on Mac. On a Mac, Ardia needs macOS 14 or later and SigmaOS needs macOS 12 or later. Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. SigmaOS has no phone app: Mac only. iOS has been on its roadmap since 2021.

Engine and extensionsa matter of taste

Ardia is built on Chromium, as Chrome is; SigmaOS on WebKit, the engine Safari uses. 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. SigmaOS has an ad blocker built in. SigmaOS keeps history and cookies on your Mac unless you turn on sync, stored encrypted on AWS; its privacy policy doesn’t say where Airis requests go.

UpdatesArdia leads

Ardia is updated as usual. SigmaOS: Still downloadable, with no public release notes since version 1.19 in February 2025.

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

SigmaOS

Mac only
No public release notes since version 1.19 in February 2025
Chrome extensions only partly work, behind its WebKit+ option
Its AI is an assistant, and regular use needs the $20 or $30 plans

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
February 4, 2025SigmaOS: Version 1.19.0, a performance update, the last release with public notes

Questions

Is Ardia free?

Yes. Free and open source.

Is SigmaOS free?

Yes, with limits on its AI. Free; Personal Pro $20/month or Personal Max $30/month for more AI.

Which has an AI agent, Ardia or SigmaOS?

Neither has an agent that does tasks in your pages. Ardia has no AI of its own. Airis chats about the page you are on, sums it up, looks things up and translates; no agent.

Which runs on Windows, Ardia or SigmaOS?

Neither. Ardia runs on Mac; SigmaOS on Mac.

Do Ardia and SigmaOS have phone apps?

Ardia has no phone app: Mac only. SigmaOS has no phone app: Mac only. iOS has been on its roadmap since 2021.

Is SigmaOS still being updated?

Still downloadable, with no public release notes since version 1.19 in February 2025.

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

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 freeDownload