YabTabbit vs Helium
Tabbit is a free Chromium AI browser for Mac and Windows from Lumina Lab in Singapore, with chat, an agent mode and a choice of many vendors’ models.
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
- if you want a free agent browser with a wide choice of models, Chinese ones included
- if you want the same AI browser on Windows and Mac
- if you want Codex or Claude Code to use your signed-in sessions through its command line
- 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 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
Tabbit and Helium, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Tabbit | Helium | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Lumina Lab (LUMINALAB PTE. LTD., Singapore) | imput | Serafim Korablev |
| Status | Updated | Updated | Updated |
| Runs on | Mac and Windows | Mac, Windows and Linux | Mac |
| Phone app | Only for its Chinese edition, in Chinese; tabbit.ai lists mobile as planned | None; desktop only. An iOS build teased in Aug 2026 is being rethought | Not yet |
| Price | Free with a weekly AI allowance; Pro $30/month | Free and open source | Free; its AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan |
| AI | An agent that works in pages, on its own AI service | No AI | An agent that works in pages, on your Claude or ChatGPT plan |
| Driven by outside agents | a command line | No | MCP and a command line |
| Engine | Chromium | Chromium | WebKit |
| Tabs down the side | Yes | A setting | Yes |
| Spaces | Not stated | 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 | No | 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.
AITabbit leads
Only Tabbit has an agent that clicks, types and finishes tasks in your pages. Tabbit chats with your tabs, files and screenshots, and its agent mode runs multi-step tasks in tab groups of its own, on GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen or GLM. Helium has no AI: Chromium’s Gemini features are taken out.
Agents like Claude Code and CodexTabbit leads
Tabbit can be driven over a command line, through the Tabbit command line, with a skill for Codex, Claude Code and Cursor. Helium has no MCP server or command line for outside agents.
Tabs and windowsTabbit leads
Tabbit has tabs down the side, Split View and folders in the sidebar. Helium has tabs down the side as a setting, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.
PriceTabbit leads
Tabbit: Free with a weekly AI allowance; Pro $30/month. Helium: Free and open source.
Where it runsHelium leads
Tabbit runs on Mac and Windows. Helium runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. On a Mac, Tabbit needs macOS 13 or later and Helium needs macOS 13 or later. On the phone, Tabbit: only for its Chinese edition, in Chinese; tabbit.ai lists mobile as planned. 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.
PrivacyHelium leads
Tabbit has an ad blocker built in. Tabbit sends prompts and pages you share to the model vendor you pick, on servers in Singapore or your region; its maker says it doesn’t train on your data. 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.
What their pages don’t lead with
Real limits, from the makers’ own words and our own use.
Tabbit
- Top models and heavy agent use need Pro at $30 a month
- The free AI is a weekly allowance, larger only if Tabbit is your default browser
- No Linux or phone apps yet
- No MCP server documented, only its command line
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: 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
- September 8, 2026Tabbit: Tabbit CLI lets coding agents drive the browser with your logins
- August 21, 2026Tabbit: Version 1.11 dropped macOS 12; macOS 13 or later required
- June 9, 2026Tabbit: Version 1.0 released after a 100-day public beta
- March 13, 2026Helium: Vertical tabs left experimental status (0.10.3)
- February 15, 2026Helium: Vertical tabs layout added (0.9.1)
Questions
Is Tabbit free?
Yes, with limits on its AI. Free with a weekly AI allowance; Pro $30/month.
Is Helium free?
Yes. Free and open source.
Which has an AI agent, Tabbit or Helium?
Tabbit. Tabbit chats with your tabs, files and screenshots, and its agent mode runs multi-step tasks in tab groups of its own, on GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen or GLM. Helium has no AI: Chromium’s Gemini features are taken out.
Do Tabbit and Helium run on Windows?
Yes, both. Tabbit runs on Mac and Windows; Helium on Mac, Windows and Linux.
Do Tabbit and Helium have phone apps?
On the phone, Tabbit: only for its Chinese edition, in Chinese; tabbit.ai lists mobile as planned. 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 Tabbit; an agent in your signed-in tabs like Tabbit’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
- Tabbit home page and FAQ
- Tabbit membership plans
- Tabbit release notes (What’s New)
- Tabbit CLI quick start (2026-09-18)
- Tabbit quick start guide
- Tabbit privacy policy
- App Store: Tabbit by Beijing KuXun Interactive Technology, universal iPhone and iPad, Simplified Chinese only, first released Jun 5, 2026
- Xiaomi App Store: Tabbit Android app, com.tabbit.ai, v0.52.9, updated Oct 9, 2026
- Tabbit China site, mobile download page (links the App Store app)
- Tabbit China membership page: bookmarks, passwords and chats sync on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, HarmonyOS
- Beijing News (Jun 9, 2026): Tabbit 1.0 launch, mobile testing begun
- 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
- 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.