YabTabbit vs Zen
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.
Zen is a free, open-source browser built on Firefox that brings Arc’s layout, tabs down the side with spaces, folders and Split View, to 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 Arc’s layout, free and open source
- if you prefer Firefox’s engine and its add-ons
- if you want no AI in your browser at all
- 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 Zen, with Yab beside them for a Mac.
| What | Tabbit | Zen Browser | Yab |
|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Lumina Lab (LUMINALAB PTE. LTD., Singapore) | Zen Browser team (open-source community project) | 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; Zen says it has no plans for a mobile version | 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 | Gecko | WebKit |
| Tabs down the side | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spaces | Not stated | Yes | Yes |
| Split View | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Extensions | Chrome Web Store | Firefox add-ons | Chrome Web Store |
| Ad blocker | Built in | No | 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. Zen has no AI: Firefox’s AI features are switched off by default.
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. Zen has no MCP server or command line for outside agents.
Tabs and windowsZen leads
Tabbit has tabs down the side, Split View and folders in the sidebar. Zen has tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.
PriceTabbit leads
Tabbit: Free with a weekly AI allowance; Pro $30/month. Zen: Free and open source.
Where it runsZen leads
Tabbit runs on Mac and Windows. Zen runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. On a Mac, Tabbit needs macOS 13 or later and Zen needs macOS 10.15 or later. On the phone, Tabbit: only for its Chinese edition, in Chinese; tabbit.ai lists mobile as planned. Zen has no phone app: Zen says it has no plans for a mobile version.
Engine and extensionsa matter of taste
Tabbit is built on Chromium, as Chrome is; Zen on Gecko, Firefox’s engine. Tabbit takes extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Zen from Firefox’s add-ons.
Privacyeven
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. Zen has open code. Zen sends no telemetry or crash reports, by its privacy policy; optional sync keeps encrypted data on Mozilla’s servers.
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
Zen Browser
- Releases are still labeled beta
- No phone app, and none planned
- Firefox add-ons only, not the Chrome Web Store
- No ad blocker of its own beyond Firefox’s tracking protection
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
- September 5, 2026Zen: Spaces, folders and tabs sync between devices with a Mozilla account (1.22b)
- 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
- February 28, 2026Zen: Live folders for GitHub issues, pull requests and RSS (1.19b)
- August 27, 2025Zen: Tab folders added (1.15b)
Questions
Is Tabbit free?
Yes, with limits on its AI. Free with a weekly AI allowance; Pro $30/month.
Is Zen Browser free?
Yes. Free and open source.
Which has an AI agent, Tabbit or Zen?
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. Zen has no AI: Firefox’s AI features are switched off by default.
Do Tabbit and Zen run on Windows?
Yes, both. Tabbit runs on Mac and Windows; Zen on Mac, Windows and Linux.
Do Tabbit and Zen have phone apps?
On the phone, Tabbit: only for its Chinese edition, in Chinese; tabbit.ai lists mobile as planned. Zen has no phone app: Zen says it has no plans for a mobile version.
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
- Zen home page
- Zen download page (macOS universal, Windows, Linux; beta)
- Zen 1.23.2b release (macOS universal dmg; Info.plist minimum 10.15)
- Zen 1.23.1b release (Firefox 157.0.1)
- Zen license (MPL-2.0)
- Zen AI preferences (all off)
- Zen welcome flow (Firefox import wizard)
- Firefox import from another browser
- Zen 1.15b release (folders)
- Zen 1.19b release (live folders)
- Zen 1.22b release (sync)
- Zen 1.12.9b release (tab unloader uses Firefox tab discarding)
- Zen FAQ (no mobile plans, donations)
- Zen Workspaces
- Zen Split View
- Zen Extensions (addons.mozilla.org)
- Zen Privacy and Security (Firefox password manager, tracking protection)
- Zen privacy policy
- Firefox 157 system requirements
- 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.