YabMove from Helium to Yab.
Yab brings Helium’s pinned and open tabs, passwords, cards, bookmarks, history, extensions and your sign-ins, from every profile.
Yab reads it straight from Helium’s files on your Mac. Nothing goes through a server, and Helium can stay open.
Checked October 9, 2026 against Yab’s current release. The full story is in the Manual’s Bringing in from another browser.
What comes over
| From Helium | Into Yab |
|---|---|
| Pinned tabs and tab groups | Yes |
| Open tabs | Yes, if you ask for them |
| Passwords | Yes, from every profile |
| Cards and addresses | Yes |
| Bookmarks | Yes |
| History | Yes |
| Extensions | Yes, fetched fresh from the Chrome Web Store; their own settings stay behind |
| Sign-ins to sites | Yes, so you stay signed in; a few sites may ask again |
How
- 1Download Yab and open it. It needs macOS 15.4 or later.
- 2In the welcome, choose Bring from Helium. It takes everything in one go. Later, Settings › General › Bring in from another browser brings each kind on its own.
- 3macOS asks whether Yab may use Helium’s key in your keychain, which locks its passwords, cards and sign-ins. Choose Always Allow.
- 4It finishes in the background and says when it is done. Helium can stay open the whole time.
What changes after Helium
Yab next to Helium, area by area. The full comparison has the table and sources.
AIYab leads
Only Yab has an agent that clicks, types and finishes tasks in your pages. Helium has no AI: Chromium’s Gemini features are taken out. Yab’s agent works in tabs of its own beside yours, signed in as you, on your Claude or ChatGPT plan; Send, Pay and Delete wait for your yes.
Agents like Claude Code and CodexYab leads
Helium has no MCP server or command line for outside agents. Yab can be driven over MCP and a command line, through yab mcp and the yab command, for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and any MCP client.
Tabs and windowsYab leads
Helium has tabs down the side as a setting, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep. Yab has tabs down the side, spaces, Split View, folders in the sidebar and tabs that sleep.
PriceYab leads
Helium: Free and open source. Yab: Free; its AI runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT plan.
Where it runsHelium leads
Helium runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. Yab runs on Mac. On a Mac, Helium needs macOS 13 or later and Yab needs macOS 15.4 or later. Helium has no phone app: desktop only. An iOS build teased in Aug 2026 is being rethought. Yab has no phone app yet.
Engine and extensionsa matter of taste
Helium is built on Chromium, as Chrome is; Yab on WebKit, the engine Safari uses. 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. Yab has an ad blocker built in. Yab has no account and no server of ours between you and your sites; what your agent reads goes to Anthropic or OpenAI under your account.
Questions
Does moving change anything in Helium?
No. Yab only reads Helium’s files. Helium keeps everything, and you can go on using both.
Do I have to close Helium first?
No. Yab reads Helium’s files while it is open.
Will I stay signed in to my sites?
Mostly. Your sign-ins come with the rest, so most sites open signed in. A few ask you to sign in again.
Do my extensions come?
Yes. Yab fetches each one you had switched on fresh from the Chrome Web Store and runs it on WebKit, the engine Safari uses. Most work as in Chrome; what an extension kept itself, like its own sign-in, stays in the old browser.
Can I bring it in again later?
Yes, any time, from Settings › General › Bring in from another browser.
What does Yab cost?
Nothing. Its AI runs on the Claude or ChatGPT plan you already pay for, if you connect one.
Yab, Yet Another Browser.
Free for the Mac. Arc’s sidebar, your own Claude or ChatGPT as the agent, Chrome extensions on WebKit.