YabAside is an AI agent browser from a Y Combinator startup, on Chromium, for Mac and Windows. Its agent does multi-step work in the sites you are signed in to, on Aside’s own models or your ChatGPT or Claude plan.
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.
Aside’s agent works through your signed-in sites; Dia’s AI chats with your tabs and tools without acting in them. Aside has a free plan with AI credits; Dia’s AI is $20 or $100 a month.
The short answer
- if you want an agent for multi-step work across your signed-in sites, on Mac or Windows
- if you want a free plan with AI credits, or to bring your ChatGPT or Claude plan
- if you want Claude Code or Codex to drive it over MCP or its command line
- 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
- if you want Claude Code, Codex or Cursor to drive a real browser over MCP
At a glance
Aside and Dia, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Aside | Dia | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Aside Computer Inc. (YC Fall 2025) | The Browser Company (Atlassian) | Serafim Korablev |
| Status | Updated | Updated | Updated |
| Runs on | Mac and Windows | Mac and Windows | Mac |
| Phone app | None yet; an iPhone app is in the works. Pro runs its agent from Slack or Telegram | None | Not yet |
| Price | Free with 500 AI credits a month; Pro $20/month; Max $200/month; or your own ChatGPT or Claude plan | 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 | An agent that works in pages, on its own AI or yours | Chat about pages, on its own AI service | An agent that works in pages, on your Claude or ChatGPT plan |
| Driven by outside agents | MCP and a command line | 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 | No | 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.
AIAside leads
Only Aside has an agent that clicks, types and finishes tasks in your pages. Aside’s agent runs multi-step tasks in your signed-in sites, signs in from its own password vault without seeing the passwords, and asks before payments, posts and messages. 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.
Agents like Claude Code and CodexAside leads
Aside can be driven over MCP and a command line, through the aside command line, with aside mcp as its MCP server. Dia has no MCP server or command line for outside agents.
Tabs and windowsAside leads
Aside 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.
PriceAside leads
Aside: Free with 500 AI credits a month; Pro $20/month; Max $200/month; or your own ChatGPT or Claude plan. Dia: Browser free; AI on Better Answers $20/month or Better Days $100/month.
Where it runseven
Both run on Mac and Windows. On a Mac, Aside needs macOS 15 or later and Dia needs macOS 14 or later. Aside has no phone app yet: an iPhone app is in the works. Pro runs its agent from Slack or Telegram. 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.
Privacyeven
Both have an ad blocker built in. Aside keeps task transcripts and files on your Mac; model providers get the prompts, page snapshots and screenshots a task needs, and analytics sharing is on by default. 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.
Aside
- The free plan has 500 AI credits a month; more is Pro at $20 or Max at $200
- Mac (macOS 15 or later) and Windows only, no phone apps
- Young: first released in February 2026, on Windows since September 2026
- Agents may use your saved passwords unless you change the default
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: macOS 15.4 or later, no Windows, iPhone or Android
- New: first released in September 2026
- Its AI needs a Claude or ChatGPT plan; ChatGPT’s free plan may work with low limits
- WebKit, as in Safari: a site tested only in Chrome can misbehave
- Closed source
What changed lately
- October 6, 2026Dia: Dia 1.0 for Windows released
- September 21, 2026Aside: Ad blocking with default filter lists turned on during setup
- September 14, 2026Aside: Windows version officially available (release 1.0.914.1)
- August 17, 2026Dia: Paid AI plans started rolling out to new Mac users
- February 25, 2026Aside: First Aside Browser release for macOS
- October 21, 2025Dia: Atlassian completed its acquisition of The Browser Company
Questions
Is Aside free?
Yes, with limits on its AI. Free with 500 AI credits a month; Pro $20/month; Max $200/month; or your own ChatGPT or Claude plan.
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, Aside or Dia?
Aside. Aside’s agent runs multi-step tasks in your signed-in sites, signs in from its own password vault without seeing the passwords, and asks before payments, posts and messages. 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.
Do Aside and Dia run on Windows?
Yes, both. Aside runs on Mac and Windows; Dia on Mac and Windows.
Do Aside and Dia have phone apps?
Aside has no phone app yet: an iPhone app is in the works. Pro runs its agent from Slack or Telegram. Dia has no phone app.
Can I move from Dia to Aside?
Yes: Aside’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 Aside; an agent in your signed-in tabs like Aside’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, and takes Chrome extensions. It is Mac only, and new.
More comparisons
- Aside home page
- Aside pricing
- Aside download page (macOS and Windows)
- Aside help: Get started (macOS 15 or later, import)
- Aside help: Manage your subscription
- Aside help: Configure AI providers
- Aside help: CLI, MCP and REPL
- Aside help: Browser basics (split tabs)
- Aside help: Password autofill and AI access policy
- Aside help: Privacy (analytics default on)
- Aside Browser changelog (Chromium, Windows, Memory Saver, imports, Intel fix)
- Aside components changelog (ad blocking, Sept 21 2026)
- Aside privacy policy (June 23 2026)
- Y Combinator company page
- Aside job listing: MTS, Mobile Engineer (iOS), build the iOS app from the ground up
- PiunikaWeb (Jul 20, 2026): Aside team member says a mobile app will ship soon
- 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, Yet Another Browser.
Free for the Mac. Arc’s sidebar, your own Claude or ChatGPT as the agent, Chrome extensions on WebKit.