{"slug": "arc", "name": "Arc", "category": "browsers", "category_name": "Browsers and extensions", "description": "Chromium-based desktop web browser from The Browser Company, built around sidebar tabs and spaces.", "recommenders": 12, "commenters": 17, "warners": 0, "score": 13.21, "rising": 9.35, "first": "2026-07-16", "latest": "2026-10-27", "why": "HN commenters like Arc for its vertical tabs and spaces, its polished design, and an overall UX several call near perfect.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 12, "neutral": 5, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 5, 5], "listed": true, "loved": ["Overall UX", "Tab organization"], "caveat": "Discontinued", "short_quote": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/basekick-labs/arc", "official_url": "https://arc.net", "pricing": "free", "aliases": ["Arc"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters like Arc for its vertical tabs and spaces,", "cites": [{"id": 784763040, "item_id": 49047690, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49047690", "by": "nojvek", "date": "2026-07-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use ARC, for vertical organized tabs.\n\nReally like it.", "excerpt": "I use ARC, for vertical organized tabs. Really like it. Haven\u2019t used Chrome in years. Yes yes ARC is Chromium based, but it\u2019s a nicer Chrome for Chromium (pun intended). Just want a browser with url -> page, back/forward history and nice tab organization. Don\u2019t want janky AI.", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing with vertical tabs", "switched_from": "Chrome", "story": "Chrome's Breaking and Entering"}, {"id": 782963424, "item_id": 48935214, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48935214", "by": "veesander", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use the Arc browser -- it has a different way of organizing tabs into spaces in a quite intuitive and easy way.", "excerpt": "I use the Arc browser -- it has a different way of organizing tabs into spaces in a quite intuitive and easy way.", "context": "", "use_case": "managing many tabs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How do you manage too many open tabs?"}, {"id": 803170912, "item_id": 50198182, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198182", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.", "excerpt": "Enjoyed using it to start with but soon returned to Chrome. Now I have a personal browser/terminal hybrid I use. Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}]}, {"text": " its polished design,", "cites": [{"id": 801193984, "item_id": 50074624, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50074624", "by": "pmkary", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "some browsers (Arc, Dia) are so gorgeous you don't want to work with anything else", "excerpt": "I don't get why Mozilla's designs are so ugly. It's 2026, everyone has beautiful designs and some browsers (Arc, Dia) are so gorgeous you don't want to work with anything else. And then this not-even-released mail app looks like old Bootstrap web apps. I used to love Mozilla for having some of the most beautiful designs. The era of Forefox OS and Firefox 4 with their beautiful beautiful designs and then they said no;", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}, {"id": 798481744, "item_id": 49905109, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905109", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "they\u2019re both innovative in ways that\u2019s not matched by open source counterparts", "excerpt": "I use Safari and Arc because they\u2019re both innovative in ways that\u2019s not matched by open source counterparts. I tried ditching Arc for Zen, but it just doesn\u2019t have the same level of polish. It feels like a copycat, which it is. I hope it gets better with time so that I can switch to it some day but it\u2019s not there yet. They should be able to match Arc though since it\u2019s development is stopped. I use Safari because it s", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "The new Firefox design is here"}, {"id": 798337522, "item_id": 49896095, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896095", "by": "osener", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "They just had to look at Arc for what people want out of the future of browser design", "excerpt": "I usually try to keep an open mind but wow this is so bad. I was a loyal Firefox user but between the memory and perf issues and now this, I've now switched to Helium. I miss the \"Multi-Account Containers\" but that's about it. They just had to look at Arc for what people want out of the future of browser design and instead they committed this own goal.", "context": "", "use_case": "browser design reference", "switched_from": "", "story": "The new Firefox design is here"}]}, {"text": " and an overall UX several call near perfect.", "cites": [{"id": 803202688, "item_id": 50200168, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50200168", "by": "wave84", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc was the perfect browser for me.", "excerpt": "This is kinda sad, Arc was the perfect browser for me. I wanted to give it a shot and download Dia, but cancelled the download when I noticed it was 861 MB large. That seems... absurd. For reference, the entire Windows 2000 installation kit was something like 370 MB. Mozilla Firefox 1.0 was 4.7 MB. Apples and oranges perhaps, but still, what is going on with software these days?", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 798073425, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 804276496, "item_id": 50267281, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50267281", "by": "warthog", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX.", "excerpt": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX. There are many Chromium forks out there but they mostly keep adding AI to a browser that does not need it (in Dia, you cannot even turn off AI) or are buggy with bad UX. So directed a bunch of agents into Arc to try and copy Arc as a seperate app locally, blocking Browser Company servers and cl", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Art: Keep using Arc after shutdown"}, {"id": 798095360, "item_id": 49880960, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880960", "by": "butlike", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great.", "excerpt": "Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great. Edit: I also use it as my mobile browser. I really don't see any problems on their mobile app (iOS)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser desktop and mobile", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaint is that development has stopped,", "cites": [{"id": 804276496, "item_id": 50267281, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50267281", "by": "warthog", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX.", "excerpt": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX. There are many Chromium forks out there but they mostly keep adding AI to a browser that does not need it (in Dia, you cannot even turn off AI) or are buggy with bad UX. So directed a bunch of agents into Arc to try and copy Arc as a seperate app locally, blocking Browser Company servers and cl", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Art: Keep using Arc after shutdown"}, {"id": 803180064, "item_id": 50198754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198754", "by": "usrme", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset", "excerpt": "I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset, but am now trying my luck with Zen browser. I'd really want to be on Dia as I have much respect for its original creators, but Atlassian being behind it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I even tried to import my Arc account into Dia to get everything done and dusted quickly, but it failed to do so, asked me to try again in a few minute", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803232850, "item_id": 50202053, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50202053", "by": "cosmic_cheese", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "For a while Arc was my main", "excerpt": "For now, yes. For a while Arc was my main, but I switched to Orion when it was announced that Arc was going on maintenance mode. Since then I've waffled between Orion and Safari.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 798073425, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}]}, {"text": " which has left users wary of The Browser Company and moving to Zen or Orion.", "cites": [{"id": 798073425, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 788592288, "item_id": 49287018, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49287018", "by": "Pieczasz", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used to use arc", "excerpt": "It's plenty of RAM, I think it's not your machine's fault, it's just that Dia afaik uses chromium and chromium likes ram, I used to use arc, and I was not willing to switch to Dia looking at what The Browser Company did to arc", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What browser do you use?"}, {"id": 803180064, "item_id": 50198754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198754", "by": "usrme", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset", "excerpt": "I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset, but am now trying my luck with Zen browser. I'd really want to be on Dia as I have much respect for its original creators, but Atlassian being behind it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I even tried to import my Arc account into Dia to get everything done and dusted quickly, but it failed to do so, asked me to try again in a few minute", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 792275169, "item_id": 49517198, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517198", "by": "Swalden123", "date": "2026-09-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I switched from Arc to Zen", "excerpt": "This caused me to go back and try Firefox again, I struggled with performance years ago on Mac when I did this. This time it\u2019s been great, I switched from Arc to Zen and don\u2019t see any reason to go back.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 803232850, "item_id": 50202053, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50202053", "by": "cosmic_cheese", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "For a while Arc was my main", "excerpt": "For now, yes. For a while Arc was my main, but I switched to Orion when it was announced that Arc was going on maintenance mode. Since then I've waffled between Orion and Safari.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Overall UX", "summary": "Long-time users call it the perfect or near-perfect browser and say no alternative offers the same UX.", "quotes": [{"id": 803202688, "item_id": 50200168, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50200168", "by": "wave84", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc was the perfect browser for me.", "excerpt": "This is kinda sad, Arc was the perfect browser for me. I wanted to give it a shot and download Dia, but cancelled the download when I noticed it was 861 MB large. That seems... absurd. For reference, the entire Windows 2000 installation kit was something like 370 MB. Mozilla Firefox 1.0 was 4.7 MB. Apples and oranges perhaps, but still, what is going on with software these days?", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 798073425, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 804276496, "item_id": 50267281, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50267281", "by": "warthog", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX.", "excerpt": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX. There are many Chromium forks out there but they mostly keep adding AI to a browser that does not need it (in Dia, you cannot even turn off AI) or are buggy with bad UX. So directed a bunch of agents into Arc to try and copy Arc as a seperate app locally, blocking Browser Company servers and cl", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Art: Keep using Arc after shutdown"}]}, {"label": "Tab organization", "summary": "Vertical sidebar tabs and spaces are praised as an intuitive way to organize tabs.", "quotes": [{"id": 784763040, "item_id": 49047690, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49047690", "by": "nojvek", "date": "2026-07-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use ARC, for vertical organized tabs.\n\nReally like it.", "excerpt": "I use ARC, for vertical organized tabs. Really like it. Haven\u2019t used Chrome in years. Yes yes ARC is Chromium based, but it\u2019s a nicer Chrome for Chromium (pun intended). Just want a browser with url -> page, back/forward history and nice tab organization. Don\u2019t want janky AI.", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing with vertical tabs", "switched_from": "Chrome", "story": "Chrome's Breaking and Entering"}, {"id": 782963424, "item_id": 48935214, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48935214", "by": "veesander", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use the Arc browser -- it has a different way of organizing tabs into spaces in a quite intuitive and easy way.", "excerpt": "I use the Arc browser -- it has a different way of organizing tabs into spaces in a quite intuitive and easy way.", "context": "", "use_case": "managing many tabs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How do you manage too many open tabs?"}, {"id": 803170912, "item_id": 50198182, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198182", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.", "excerpt": "Enjoyed using it to start with but soon returned to Chrome. Now I have a personal browser/terminal hybrid I use. Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}]}, {"label": "Design and polish", "summary": "Commenters call it gorgeous and more polished than open-source look-alikes like Zen.", "quotes": [{"id": 801193984, "item_id": 50074624, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50074624", "by": "pmkary", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "some browsers (Arc, Dia) are so gorgeous you don't want to work with anything else", "excerpt": "I don't get why Mozilla's designs are so ugly. It's 2026, everyone has beautiful designs and some browsers (Arc, Dia) are so gorgeous you don't want to work with anything else. And then this not-even-released mail app looks like old Bootstrap web apps. I used to love Mozilla for having some of the most beautiful designs. The era of Forefox OS and Firefox 4 with their beautiful beautiful designs and then they said no;", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}, {"id": 798481744, "item_id": 49905109, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905109", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "they\u2019re both innovative in ways that\u2019s not matched by open source counterparts", "excerpt": "I use Safari and Arc because they\u2019re both innovative in ways that\u2019s not matched by open source counterparts. I tried ditching Arc for Zen, but it just doesn\u2019t have the same level of polish. It feels like a copycat, which it is. I hope it gets better with time so that I can switch to it some day but it\u2019s not there yet. They should be able to match Arc though since it\u2019s development is stopped. I use Safari because it s", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "The new Firefox design is here"}, {"id": 798337522, "item_id": 49896095, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896095", "by": "osener", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "They just had to look at Arc for what people want out of the future of browser design", "excerpt": "I usually try to keep an open mind but wow this is so bad. I was a loyal Firefox user but between the memory and perf issues and now this, I've now switched to Helium. I miss the \"Multi-Account Containers\" but that's about it. They just had to look at Arc for what people want out of the future of browser design and instead they committed this own goal.", "context": "", "use_case": "browser design reference", "switched_from": "", "story": "The new Firefox design is here"}]}, {"label": "Specific features", "summary": "Splits, page editability and Google Meet picture-in-picture keep some users coming back.", "quotes": [{"id": 803170912, "item_id": 50198182, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198182", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.", "excerpt": "Enjoyed using it to start with but soon returned to Chrome. Now I have a personal browser/terminal hybrid I use. Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 798087744, "item_id": 49880484, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880484", "by": "jcmontx", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I always end up coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature", "excerpt": "I use Arc, I tried moving to Zen and to Safari, but I always end up coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}]}, {"label": "Still usable", "summary": "Some still use it daily because it remains usable and receives Chromium updates.", "quotes": [{"id": 798095360, "item_id": 49880960, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880960", "by": "butlike", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great.", "excerpt": "Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great. Edit: I also use it as my mobile browser. I really don't see any problems on their mobile app (iOS)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser desktop and mobile", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798087744, "item_id": 49880484, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880484", "by": "jcmontx", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I always end up coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature", "excerpt": "I use Arc, I tried moving to Zen and to Safari, but I always end up coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Discontinued", "summary": "Arc is being sunset or kept in maintenance mode, which prompted users to switch away.", "quotes": [{"id": 804276496, "item_id": 50267281, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50267281", "by": "warthog", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX.", "excerpt": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX. There are many Chromium forks out there but they mostly keep adding AI to a browser that does not need it (in Dia, you cannot even turn off AI) or are buggy with bad UX. So directed a bunch of agents into Arc to try and copy Arc as a seperate app locally, blocking Browser Company servers and cl", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Art: Keep using Arc after shutdown"}, {"id": 803180064, "item_id": 50198754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198754", "by": "usrme", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset", "excerpt": "I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset, but am now trying my luck with Zen browser. I'd really want to be on Dia as I have much respect for its original creators, but Atlassian being behind it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I even tried to import my Arc account into Dia to get everything done and dusted quickly, but it failed to do so, asked me to try again in a few minute", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803232850, "item_id": 50202053, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50202053", "by": "cosmic_cheese", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "For a while Arc was my main", "excerpt": "For now, yes. For a while Arc was my main, but I switched to Orion when it was announced that Arc was going on maintenance mode. Since then I've waffled between Orion and Safari.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}]}, {"label": "Vendor distrust", "summary": "Some distrust The Browser Company after it dropped Arc in favor of the AI-focused Dia.", "quotes": [{"id": 798073425, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 788592288, "item_id": 49287018, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49287018", "by": "Pieczasz", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used to use arc", "excerpt": "It's plenty of RAM, I think it's not your machine's fault, it's just that Dia afaik uses chromium and chromium likes ram, I used to use arc, and I was not willing to switch to Dia looking at what The Browser Company did to arc", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What browser do you use?"}]}, {"label": "Alternatives catching up", "summary": "Some users who moved to Zen say they don't miss Arc, and one says Zen now surpasses it.", "quotes": [{"id": 803908465, "item_id": 50244279, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50244279", "by": "Nerdrotic", "date": "2026-10-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I wanted a browser with no UX and that's what Arc delivered", "excerpt": "Meh... Switched to Zen never looked back. Cross-platform far more important to be than any A.I. features. I wanted a browser with no UX and that's what Arc delivered then they had to be copied and cloned by Zen before it became useful. Current release of Zen surpasses what Arc had going on. Don't give a flip about Dia.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 792275169, "item_id": 49517198, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517198", "by": "Swalden123", "date": "2026-09-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I switched from Arc to Zen", "excerpt": "This caused me to go back and try Firefox again, I struggled with performance years ago on Mac when I did this. This time it\u2019s been great, I switched from Arc to Zen and don\u2019t see any reason to go back.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}]}, {"label": "Mobile support", "summary": "One user cites the lack of a proper mobile browser, though another reports no problems with the iOS app.", "quotes": [{"id": 798073425, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798095360, "item_id": 49880960, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880960", "by": "butlike", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great.", "excerpt": "Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great. Edit: I also use it as my mobile browser. I really don't see any problems on their mobile app (iOS)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser desktop and mobile", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}]}], "who": [], "tags": ["for vertical tabs", "for tab organization", "Chromium-based", "for Mac users"], "use_cases": ["web browsing", "browsing", "daily browser", "laptop browsing", "browser design reference", "daily browser desktop and mobile"], "compared": [{"slug": "zen", "name": "Zen", "co": 12, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 6}, {"slug": "dia", "name": "Dia", "co": 10, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "firefox", "name": "Firefox", "co": 9, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "safari", "name": "Safari", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "helium", "name": "Helium", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "chrome", "name": "Chrome", "co": 3, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "orion", "name": "Orion", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "vivaldi", "name": "Vivaldi", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 789581440, "item_id": 49348840, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49348840", "by": "ignaciovdk", "date": "2026-08-18", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "For now Arc is staying in Github: https://github.com/Basekick-Labs/arc", "excerpt": "I don't know, my gut says that this is going to end in a bad way. I signed up, I think but wasn't sure if I needed to buy Cursor, or Origin came with a subscription, so confused. For now Arc is staying in Github: https://github.com/Basekick-Labs/arc", "context": "", "use_case": "hosting project", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cursor launches Origin, GitHub alternative"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50197601", "title": "A farewell to Arc browser", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49878759", "title": "I switched to Brave", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49892721", "title": "The new Firefox design is here", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50267280", "title": "Art: Keep using Arc after shutdown", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50085112", "title": "Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50072913", "title": "Thunderbird for iOS", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 5}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 3}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804276496, "item_id": 50267281, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50267281", "by": "warthog", "date": "2026-10-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX.", "excerpt": "Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX. There are many Chromium forks out there but they mostly keep adding AI to a browser that does not need it (in Dia, you cannot even turn off AI) or are buggy with bad UX. So directed a bunch of agents into Arc to try and copy Arc as a seperate app locally, blocking Browser Company servers and cl", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Art: Keep using Arc after shutdown"}, {"id": 803908465, "item_id": 50244279, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50244279", "by": "Nerdrotic", "date": "2026-10-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I wanted a browser with no UX and that's what Arc delivered", "excerpt": "Meh... Switched to Zen never looked back. Cross-platform far more important to be than any A.I. features. I wanted a browser with no UX and that's what Arc delivered then they had to be copied and cloned by Zen before it became useful. Current release of Zen surpasses what Arc had going on. Don't give a flip about Dia.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803232850, "item_id": 50202053, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50202053", "by": "cosmic_cheese", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "For a while Arc was my main", "excerpt": "For now, yes. For a while Arc was my main, but I switched to Orion when it was announced that Arc was going on maintenance mode. Since then I've waffled between Orion and Safari.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803202688, "item_id": 50200168, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50200168", "by": "wave84", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc was the perfect browser for me.", "excerpt": "This is kinda sad, Arc was the perfect browser for me. I wanted to give it a shot and download Dia, but cancelled the download when I noticed it was 861 MB large. That seems... absurd. For reference, the entire Windows 2000 installation kit was something like 370 MB. Mozilla Firefox 1.0 was 4.7 MB. Apples and oranges perhaps, but still, what is going on with software these days?", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803180064, "item_id": 50198754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198754", "by": "usrme", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset", "excerpt": "I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset, but am now trying my luck with Zen browser. I'd really want to be on Dia as I have much respect for its original creators, but Atlassian being behind it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I even tried to import my Arc account into Dia to get everything done and dusted quickly, but it failed to do so, asked me to try again in a few minute", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803170912, "item_id": 50198182, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198182", "by": "arjie", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.", "excerpt": "Enjoyed using it to start with but soon returned to Chrome. Now I have a personal browser/terminal hybrid I use. Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 801370721, "item_id": 50085670, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50085670", "by": "themightyquinn", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I did try to switch from Arc to Safari on my laptop and my experience was much less pleasant.", "excerpt": "I made the switch on mobile a while back and adjusted quickly. I really don\u2019t miss chrome there. I did try to switch from Arc to Safari on my laptop and my experience was much less pleasant. There\u2019s just a ton of clunky ux on safari. I\u2019ll give it a try again but once I made the mistake of dismissing the permissions popup that appears for every video call and it just never came back (subsequent meetings). I\u2019m sure it\u2019", "context": "", "use_case": "laptop browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome)"}, {"id": 801193984, "item_id": 50074624, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50074624", "by": "pmkary", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "some browsers (Arc, Dia) are so gorgeous you don't want to work with anything else", "excerpt": "I don't get why Mozilla's designs are so ugly. It's 2026, everyone has beautiful designs and some browsers (Arc, Dia) are so gorgeous you don't want to work with anything else. And then this not-even-released mail app looks like old Bootstrap web apps. I used to love Mozilla for having some of the most beautiful designs. The era of Forefox OS and Firefox 4 with their beautiful beautiful designs and then they said no;", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}, {"id": 798481744, "item_id": 49905109, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905109", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "they\u2019re both innovative in ways that\u2019s not matched by open source counterparts", "excerpt": "I use Safari and Arc because they\u2019re both innovative in ways that\u2019s not matched by open source counterparts. I tried ditching Arc for Zen, but it just doesn\u2019t have the same level of polish. It feels like a copycat, which it is. I hope it gets better with time so that I can switch to it some day but it\u2019s not there yet. They should be able to match Arc though since it\u2019s development is stopped. I use Safari because it s", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "The new Firefox design is here"}, {"id": 798337522, "item_id": 49896095, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49896095", "by": "osener", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "They just had to look at Arc for what people want out of the future of browser design", "excerpt": "I usually try to keep an open mind but wow this is so bad. I was a loyal Firefox user but between the memory and perf issues and now this, I've now switched to Helium. I miss the \"Multi-Account Containers\" but that's about it. They just had to look at Arc for what people want out of the future of browser design and instead they committed this own goal.", "context": "", "use_case": "browser design reference", "switched_from": "", "story": "The new Firefox design is here"}, {"id": 798095360, "item_id": 49880960, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880960", "by": "butlike", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great.", "excerpt": "Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great. Edit: I also use it as my mobile browser. I really don't see any problems on their mobile app (iOS)", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser desktop and mobile", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798087744, "item_id": 49880484, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880484", "by": "jcmontx", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I always end up coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature", "excerpt": "I use Arc, I tried moving to Zen and to Safari, but I always end up coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798073425, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 792275169, "item_id": 49517198, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517198", "by": "Swalden123", "date": "2026-09-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I switched from Arc to Zen", "excerpt": "This caused me to go back and try Firefox again, I struggled with performance years ago on Mac when I did this. This time it\u2019s been great, I switched from Arc to Zen and don\u2019t see any reason to go back.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 788592288, "item_id": 49287018, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49287018", "by": "Pieczasz", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used to use arc", "excerpt": "It's plenty of RAM, I think it's not your machine's fault, it's just that Dia afaik uses chromium and chromium likes ram, I used to use arc, and I was not willing to switch to Dia looking at what The Browser Company did to arc", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What browser do you use?"}, {"id": 784763040, "item_id": 49047690, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49047690", "by": "nojvek", "date": "2026-07-25", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use ARC, for vertical organized tabs.\n\nReally like it.", "excerpt": "I use ARC, for vertical organized tabs. Really like it. Haven\u2019t used Chrome in years. Yes yes ARC is Chromium based, but it\u2019s a nicer Chrome for Chromium (pun intended). Just want a browser with url -> page, back/forward history and nice tab organization. Don\u2019t want janky AI.", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing with vertical tabs", "switched_from": "Chrome", "story": "Chrome's Breaking and Entering"}, {"id": 782963424, "item_id": 48935214, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48935214", "by": "veesander", "date": "2026-07-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use the Arc browser -- it has a different way of organizing tabs into spaces in a quite intuitive and easy way.", "excerpt": "I use the Arc browser -- it has a different way of organizing tabs into spaces in a quite intuitive and easy way.", "context": "", "use_case": "managing many tabs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How do you manage too many open tabs?"}]}