YabHelium vs Dia
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.
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.
The short answer
- 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
- 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
Helium and Dia, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Helium | Dia | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | imput | The Browser Company (Atlassian) | Serafim Korablev |
| Status | Updated | Updated | Updated |
| Runs on | Mac, Windows and Linux | Mac and Windows | Mac |
| Phone app | None; desktop only. An iOS build teased in Aug 2026 is being rethought | None | Not yet |
| 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 | A setting | A setting | Yes |
| Spaces | No | 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; Helium has less of it. Helium has no AI: Chromium’s Gemini features are taken out. 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 windowsDia leads
Helium has tabs down the side as a setting, 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
Helium: Free and open source. Dia: Browser free; AI on Better Answers $20/month or Better Days $100/month.
Where it runsHelium leads
Helium runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. Dia runs on Mac and Windows. On a Mac, Helium needs macOS 13 or later and Dia needs macOS 14 or later. Helium has no phone app: desktop only. An iOS build teased in Aug 2026 is being rethought. 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.
PrivacyHelium leads
Helium has an ad blocker built in and open code. Helium makes no requests on first launch and has no analytics; updates, filter lists and extensions go through its services only once you approve. 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.
Helium
- Still in beta
- No password manager or sync yet
- No Widevine, so some streaming services won’t play
- No phone app yet
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
- August 17, 2026Dia: Paid AI plans started rolling out to new Mac users
- March 13, 2026Helium: Vertical tabs left experimental status (0.10.3)
- February 15, 2026Helium: Vertical tabs layout added (0.9.1)
- October 21, 2025Dia: Atlassian completed its acquisition of The Browser Company
Questions
Is Helium 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, Helium or Dia?
Neither has an agent that does tasks in your pages. Helium has no AI: Chromium’s Gemini features are taken out. 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 Helium and Dia run on Windows?
Yes, both. Helium runs on Mac, Windows and Linux; Dia on Mac and Windows.
Do Helium and Dia have phone apps?
Helium has no phone app: desktop only. An iOS build teased in Aug 2026 is being rethought. Dia has no phone app.
Can I move from Dia to Helium?
Yes: Helium’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 Dia; 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, and takes Chrome extensions. It is Mac only, and new.
More comparisons
- Helium home page and FAQ
- Helium main repo (beta, GPL-3.0, ungoogled-chromium base, uBlock fork)
- Helium for macOS releases (arm64 and x86_64)
- Helium macOS update feed (minimum 13.0)
- Helium for Windows releases
- Helium for Linux releases
- Helium 0.9.1 release (vertical tabs)
- Helium 0.10.3 release (vertical tabs no longer experimental)
- Helium patch: Memory Saver on by default
- Helium patch: AI features disabled
- Helium patch: browser importers
- Helium patch: Zen importer
- Helium blog: transparency
- PiunikaWeb (Aug 18, 2026): developer teases an iOS build, says Helium targets all platforms
- Developer’s teaser on X (Aug 17, 2026)
- PiunikaWeb (Sep 11, 2026): developer says he dislikes the iOS build and may rethink mobile
- Developer’s follow-up on X
- 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.