{"slug": "zen-browser", "name": "Zen Browser", "category": "browsers", "category_name": "Browsers and extensions", "description": "Open-source, Firefox-based desktop browser with sidebar tabs and an Arc-inspired interface.", "recommenders": 67, "commenters": 95, "warners": 12, "score": 53.345, "rising": 17.24, "first": "2025-11-06", "latest": "2026-10-29", "why": "HN commenters recommend it as a near drop-in, Firefox-based replacement for Arc, with Firefox extensions like uBlock Origin available and a smooth migration.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 75, "neutral": 15, "compare": 4, "warn": 12}, "spark": [7, 9, 4, 2, 3, 3, 7, 8, 1, 6, 8, 17], "listed": true, "loved": ["Arc replacement", "Firefox extensions"], "caveat": "Missing Arc features", "short_quote": "Can highly recommend it as a near drop-in replacement for Arc, albeit built on Firefox.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "zen-browser.app", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://zen-browser.app/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Zen Browser", "Zen", "zen"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters recommend it as a near drop-in, Firefox-based replacement for Arc", "cites": [{"id": 803216448, "item_id": 50201028, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50201028", "by": "constantlm", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Can highly recommend it as a near drop-in replacement for Arc, albeit built on Firefox.", "excerpt": "I've been expecting this news for a while, and I moved to Zen when they changed direction originally. Can highly recommend it as a near drop-in replacement for Arc, albeit built on Firefox. https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803439760, "item_id": 50214985, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214985", "by": "butlike", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen now appears to be a drop-in replacement", "excerpt": "Yes, there's a github tool. I just ran the Arc-to-Zen tool from https://github.com/Thinkscape/arc-to-zen and it imported everything flawlessly. Zen now appears to be a drop-in replacement. Try it out!", "context": "", "use_case": "Browser replacing Arc", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 790964464, "item_id": 49435279, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49435279", "by": "cosmic_cheese", "date": "2026-08-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it may be worth checking out the Firefox-based Zen Browser", "excerpt": "If the browser being Chromium-based isn\u2019t a hard requirement, it may be worth checking out the Firefox-based Zen Browser[0]. Its UI is very similar to that of Arc, to the point that I\u2019d call it Arc\u2019s spiritual successor. [0]: https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 798148336, "item_id": 49884271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884271", "by": "Vinnl", "date": "2026-09-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you should try Zen! It's basically Arc, but based on Firefox, open source and, more importantly, actively maintained.", "excerpt": "> I LOVED Arc. I assume you've heard of it, but just in case you haven't: you should try Zen! It's basically Arc, but based on Firefox, open source and, more importantly, actively maintained. https://zen-browser.app", "context": "", "use_case": "Firefox-based browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 803167392, "item_id": 50197962, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50197962", "by": "jamie_ca", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm pretty happy having switched to Zen", "excerpt": "Writing was on the wall once they pivoted to Dia, I'm pretty happy having switched to Zen (though for a few things that matter, it's Firefox-based not Chrome). https://zen-browser.app/ They picked up a lot of cues from Arc - sidebar tabs, pinned vs generic tabs, global bookmarks, spaces...", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}]}, {"text": ", with Firefox extensions like uBlock Origin available and a smooth migration.", "cites": [{"id": 803375136, "item_id": 50210946, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50210946", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "but it's really improved", "excerpt": "Just migrated to Zen this afternoon using https://github.com/Thinkscape/arc-to-zen, it's ok so far. I tried Zen a few months ago and at the time it didn't feel great compared to Arc (some transitions were not very smooth, some things didn't work just like in Arc) but it's really improved. After just a few hours I don't really feel a difference. As a bonus it's based on Firefox so uBlock Origin is available.", "context": "", "use_case": "Browser replacing Arc", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 792244512, "item_id": 49515282, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49515282", "by": "slfnflctd", "date": "2026-08-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen is my favorite browser experience by far", "excerpt": "I recently switched to Zen with Ublock Origin and it does seem like some sites are slower than before. It's got me suspicious that site owners are increasingly throttling users with adblockers. YouTube absolutely does. Zen is my favorite browser experience by far, and I've been using the web since Netscape in 1994. But the slowdowns do put a damper on things. Also some of the streaming platforms don't seem to play ni", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 792479264, "item_id": 49529954, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49529954", "by": "jkahrs595", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Zen (firefox under the hood) and I just don't understand all of the bitching people do about Firefox.", "excerpt": "I use Zen (firefox under the hood) and I just don't understand all of the bitching people do about Firefox. Once I learned all about manifest v2 deprecation it was such an easy decision to move away from Chromium based browsers. The transition was one of the most painless things I've ever done in the software world. Literally what is the issue?", "context": "", "use_case": "browser", "switched_from": "Chromium-based browsers", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveats are Arc features it lacks or the developers reject", "cites": [{"id": 803309904, "item_id": 50206869, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206869", "by": "puszczyk", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i've installed zen on a modern mbp pro and so far really like it", "excerpt": "thanks for the recommendation, i was a bit skeptical because i wasn't happy with the firefox ui/ux and i had a vague recollection it destroy battery life nevertheless, i've installed zen on a modern mbp pro and so far really like it the biggest miss is the little arc (there's the glance feature, but it only works when navigating from within existing pages) i don't miss ai crap at all -- i'm an AI pilled SWE, but clau", "context": "AI-pilled SWE", "use_case": "Arc replacement browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "Ask HN: What browser should I use? (RIP Arc)"}, {"id": 803266816, "item_id": 50204176, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50204176", "by": "milch", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Zen as my work browser", "excerpt": "I use Zen as my work browser but weirdly the developers seem to have a few Arc features they are actively opposed to despite ... let's say taking heavy inspiration from Arc otherwise. Two examples I can think of off the top of my head are the auto closing of tabs, and preventing websites from taking over certain keyboard shortcuts.", "context": "", "use_case": "work browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}]}, {"text": ", and some users report bugs, crashes, slowdowns and incompatible extensions or streaming sites.", "cites": [{"id": 803173056, "item_id": 50198316, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198316", "by": "lnenad", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Zen turned to shit for me in the last month. So many stupid bugs started happening.", "excerpt": "Zen turned to shit for me in the last month. So many stupid bugs started happening. For example, clicking on exes in the downloads would retrigger the download instead of running the file. Random crashes. I was able to drag the whole window by clicking on random parts of the page (I noticed this as I highlight text during reading). It got very slow. I tried to report these but the button to report would actually redi", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 792244512, "item_id": 49515282, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49515282", "by": "slfnflctd", "date": "2026-08-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen is my favorite browser experience by far", "excerpt": "I recently switched to Zen with Ublock Origin and it does seem like some sites are slower than before. It's got me suspicious that site owners are increasingly throttling users with adblockers. YouTube absolutely does. Zen is my favorite browser experience by far, and I've been using the web since Netscape in 1994. But the slowdowns do put a damper on things. Also some of the streaming platforms don't seem to play ni", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 799201265, "item_id": 49950079, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950079", "by": "ToyKeeper", "date": "2026-10-04", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Impossible to support: Zen Browser", "excerpt": "Dang, looking at this later, I realize I forgot again that HN doesn't support common list formatting. If I put one \"- item\" per line, it joins them all into a single paragraph. And now it's too late to edit. It should work if I put a blank line between each item though. That last bit was supposed to say: - Supported: Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Floorp, Chromium, Brave, Vivaldi, Librewolf, Waterfox, Ungoogled Chromium, Tho", "context": "browser extension developer", "use_case": "browser extension testing", "switched_from": "", "story": "An Update on Orion for Linux and Windows"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Arc replacement", "summary": "Former Arc users call it a near drop-in replacement with Arc's sidebar tabs, spaces and pinned tabs.", "quotes": [{"id": 803216448, "item_id": 50201028, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50201028", "by": "constantlm", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Can highly recommend it as a near drop-in replacement for Arc, albeit built on Firefox.", "excerpt": "I've been expecting this news for a while, and I moved to Zen when they changed direction originally. Can highly recommend it as a near drop-in replacement for Arc, albeit built on Firefox. https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803167392, "item_id": 50197962, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50197962", "by": "jamie_ca", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm pretty happy having switched to Zen", "excerpt": "Writing was on the wall once they pivoted to Dia, I'm pretty happy having switched to Zen (though for a few things that matter, it's Firefox-based not Chrome). https://zen-browser.app/ They picked up a lot of cues from Arc - sidebar tabs, pinned vs generic tabs, global bookmarks, spaces...", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 790964464, "item_id": 49435279, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49435279", "by": "cosmic_cheese", "date": "2026-08-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it may be worth checking out the Firefox-based Zen Browser", "excerpt": "If the browser being Chromium-based isn\u2019t a hard requirement, it may be worth checking out the Firefox-based Zen Browser[0]. Its UI is very similar to that of Arc, to the point that I\u2019d call it Arc\u2019s spiritual successor. [0]: https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}]}, {"label": "Firefox extensions", "summary": "Because it is built on Firefox, extensions like uBlock Origin, Vimium and Apple Passwords work.", "quotes": [{"id": 803375136, "item_id": 50210946, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50210946", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "but it's really improved", "excerpt": "Just migrated to Zen this afternoon using https://github.com/Thinkscape/arc-to-zen, it's ok so far. I tried Zen a few months ago and at the time it didn't feel great compared to Arc (some transitions were not very smooth, some things didn't work just like in Arc) but it's really improved. After just a few hours I don't really feel a difference. As a bonus it's based on Firefox so uBlock Origin is available.", "context": "", "use_case": "Browser replacing Arc", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 801225120, "item_id": 50076570, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50076570", "by": "godelski", "date": "2026-10-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big keyboard person so I love it, especially with the vimium plugin", "excerpt": "Most people don't like Zen (or Arc). Which is fine. I'm a big keyboard person so I love it, especially with the vimium plugin. But sometimes people get confused at my browser because they don't know how to navigate. Which is understandable What I like about Mozilla is they made a hackable browser so we can have things like Zen, WaterFox, or whatever floats your boat.", "context": "keyboard-oriented user", "use_case": "keyboard-driven browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}, {"id": 792282528, "item_id": 49517658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517658", "by": "krrrh", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recently switched from Safari to Zen and the Firefox extension for Apple passwords works well.", "excerpt": "I recently switched from Safari to Zen and the Firefox extension for Apple passwords works well. You have to enter a pushed 6 digit code when you first start the browser, but it\u2019s relatively painless.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "Safari", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}]}, {"label": "Easy migration", "summary": "Switchers describe moving from Arc or Chromium browsers as painless, helped by an Arc-to-Zen import tool.", "quotes": [{"id": 803439760, "item_id": 50214985, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214985", "by": "butlike", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen now appears to be a drop-in replacement", "excerpt": "Yes, there's a github tool. I just ran the Arc-to-Zen tool from https://github.com/Thinkscape/arc-to-zen and it imported everything flawlessly. Zen now appears to be a drop-in replacement. Try it out!", "context": "", "use_case": "Browser replacing Arc", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803375136, "item_id": 50210946, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50210946", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "but it's really improved", "excerpt": "Just migrated to Zen this afternoon using https://github.com/Thinkscape/arc-to-zen, it's ok so far. I tried Zen a few months ago and at the time it didn't feel great compared to Arc (some transitions were not very smooth, some things didn't work just like in Arc) but it's really improved. After just a few hours I don't really feel a difference. As a bonus it's based on Firefox so uBlock Origin is available.", "context": "", "use_case": "Browser replacing Arc", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 792479264, "item_id": 49529954, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49529954", "by": "jkahrs595", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Zen (firefox under the hood) and I just don't understand all of the bitching people do about Firefox.", "excerpt": "I use Zen (firefox under the hood) and I just don't understand all of the bitching people do about Firefox. Once I learned all about manifest v2 deprecation it was such an easy decision to move away from Chromium based browsers. The transition was one of the most painless things I've ever done in the software world. Literally what is the issue?", "context": "", "use_case": "browser", "switched_from": "Chromium-based browsers", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}]}, {"label": "Active development", "summary": "Commenters say it is actively maintained and has improved a lot in recent months.", "quotes": [{"id": 798148336, "item_id": 49884271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884271", "by": "Vinnl", "date": "2026-09-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you should try Zen! It's basically Arc, but based on Firefox, open source and, more importantly, actively maintained.", "excerpt": "> I LOVED Arc. I assume you've heard of it, but just in case you haven't: you should try Zen! It's basically Arc, but based on Firefox, open source and, more importantly, actively maintained. https://zen-browser.app", "context": "", "use_case": "Firefox-based browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 799161024, "item_id": 49947564, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49947564", "by": "kavith", "date": "2026-10-03", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Zen [1] primarily the last couple of hours and it seems to have come a long way since I last tried it.", "excerpt": "hmm, I don't know - I've been using Zen [1] primarily the last couple of hours and it seems to have come a long way since I last tried it. Thanks for sharing carbonyl & brownsh, they seem quite cool. Just not sure they'd be the perfect fit for me as my primary browser. [1] https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "Primary browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox 157"}, {"id": 798156352, "item_id": 49884772, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884772", "by": "horrorente", "date": "2026-09-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There is also Zen which is quite active", "excerpt": "There is also Zen which is quite active: https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}]}, {"label": "Privacy, no AI", "summary": "Users like its privacy defaults and the absence of AI features.", "quotes": [{"id": 804717648, "item_id": 50294853, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50294853", "by": "d3Xt3r", "date": "2026-10-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Don't use Firefox, use Zen Browser", "excerpt": "Don't use Firefox, use Zen Browser[1] instead. It's based on Firefox but has a modern UI/UX, it's optimised for speed, has better privacy defaults, and no AI crap. [1] https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "Tell HN: I know Firefox has update when it starts to glitch"}, {"id": 803309904, "item_id": 50206869, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206869", "by": "puszczyk", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i've installed zen on a modern mbp pro and so far really like it", "excerpt": "thanks for the recommendation, i was a bit skeptical because i wasn't happy with the firefox ui/ux and i had a vague recollection it destroy battery life nevertheless, i've installed zen on a modern mbp pro and so far really like it the biggest miss is the little arc (there's the glance feature, but it only works when navigating from within existing pages) i don't miss ai crap at all -- i'm an AI pilled SWE, but clau", "context": "AI-pilled SWE", "use_case": "Arc replacement browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "Ask HN: What browser should I use? (RIP Arc)"}]}, {"label": "Cross-platform", "summary": "Commenters value that it runs across platforms.", "quotes": [{"id": 803908464, "item_id": 50244279, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50244279", "by": "Nerdrotic", "date": "2026-10-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Switched to Zen never looked back.", "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": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 800844209, "item_id": 50052763, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50052763", "by": "Vinnl", "date": "2026-10-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Of course this comment section also warrants a mention of Zen Browser, another Arc alternative", "excerpt": "Appears to use Chromium by default, and also ship WebKit to toggle for individual websites: https://crestbrowser.com/guides/engines/ Of course this comment section also warrants a mention of Zen Browser, another Arc alternative that's been going for a while already, is based on Firefox, and is available cross-platform: https://zen-browser.app", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Crest \u2013 an Arc-inspired open-source browser for Mac"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Missing Arc features", "summary": "Some Arc features are absent or limited, such as Little Arc and auto-closing tabs.", "quotes": [{"id": 803309904, "item_id": 50206869, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206869", "by": "puszczyk", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i've installed zen on a modern mbp pro and so far really like it", "excerpt": "thanks for the recommendation, i was a bit skeptical because i wasn't happy with the firefox ui/ux and i had a vague recollection it destroy battery life nevertheless, i've installed zen on a modern mbp pro and so far really like it the biggest miss is the little arc (there's the glance feature, but it only works when navigating from within existing pages) i don't miss ai crap at all -- i'm an AI pilled SWE, but clau", "context": "AI-pilled SWE", "use_case": "Arc replacement browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "Ask HN: What browser should I use? (RIP Arc)"}, {"id": 803266816, "item_id": 50204176, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50204176", "by": "milch", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Zen as my work browser", "excerpt": "I use Zen as my work browser but weirdly the developers seem to have a few Arc features they are actively opposed to despite ... let's say taking heavy inspiration from Arc otherwise. Two examples I can think of off the top of my head are the auto closing of tabs, and preventing websites from taking over certain keyboard shortcuts.", "context": "", "use_case": "work browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}]}, {"label": "Bugs and crashes", "summary": "One user reported a month of bugs, random crashes and slowness before switching away.", "quotes": [{"id": 803173056, "item_id": 50198316, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198316", "by": "lnenad", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Zen turned to shit for me in the last month. So many stupid bugs started happening.", "excerpt": "Zen turned to shit for me in the last month. So many stupid bugs started happening. For example, clicking on exes in the downloads would retrigger the download instead of running the file. Random crashes. I was able to drag the whole window by clicking on random parts of the page (I noticed this as I highlight text during reading). It got very slow. I tried to report these but the button to report would actually redi", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}]}, {"label": "Site compatibility", "summary": "Some sites felt slower and some streaming platforms did not work well.", "quotes": [{"id": 792244512, "item_id": 49515282, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49515282", "by": "slfnflctd", "date": "2026-08-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen is my favorite browser experience by far", "excerpt": "I recently switched to Zen with Ublock Origin and it does seem like some sites are slower than before. It's got me suspicious that site owners are increasingly throttling users with adblockers. YouTube absolutely does. Zen is my favorite browser experience by far, and I've been using the web since Netscape in 1994. But the slowdowns do put a damper on things. Also some of the streaming platforms don't seem to play ni", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}]}, {"label": "Extension support", "summary": "One extension developer said supporting Zen is impossible.", "quotes": [{"id": 799201265, "item_id": 49950079, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950079", "by": "ToyKeeper", "date": "2026-10-04", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Impossible to support: Zen Browser", "excerpt": "Dang, looking at this later, I realize I forgot again that HN doesn't support common list formatting. If I put one \"- item\" per line, it joins them all into a single paragraph. And now it's too late to edit. It should work if I put a blank line between each item though. That last bit was supposed to say: - Supported: Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Floorp, Chromium, Brave, Vivaldi, Librewolf, Waterfox, Ungoogled Chromium, Tho", "context": "browser extension developer", "use_case": "browser extension testing", "switched_from": "", "story": "An Update on Orion for Linux and Windows"}]}, {"label": "Not Chromium", "summary": "Some note that being Firefox-based rather than Chromium matters for a few things.", "quotes": [{"id": 803167392, "item_id": 50197962, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50197962", "by": "jamie_ca", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm pretty happy having switched to Zen", "excerpt": "Writing was on the wall once they pivoted to Dia, I'm pretty happy having switched to Zen (though for a few things that matter, it's Firefox-based not Chrome). https://zen-browser.app/ They picked up a lot of cues from Arc - sidebar tabs, pinned vs generic tabs, global bookmarks, spaces...", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803216448, "item_id": 50201028, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50201028", "by": "constantlm", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Can highly recommend it as a near drop-in replacement for Arc, albeit built on Firefox.", "excerpt": "I've been expecting this news for a while, and I moved to Zen when they changed direction originally. Can highly recommend it as a near drop-in replacement for Arc, albeit built on Firefox. https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}]}, {"label": "Unfamiliar navigation", "summary": "Its keyboard-centric UI can confuse people used to other browsers.", "quotes": [{"id": 801225120, "item_id": 50076570, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50076570", "by": "godelski", "date": "2026-10-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big keyboard person so I love it, especially with the vimium plugin", "excerpt": "Most people don't like Zen (or Arc). Which is fine. I'm a big keyboard person so I love it, especially with the vimium plugin. But sometimes people get confused at my browser because they don't know how to navigate. Which is understandable What I like about Mozilla is they made a hackable browser so we can have things like Zen, WaterFox, or whatever floats your boat.", "context": "keyboard-oriented user", "use_case": "keyboard-driven browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}]}], "who": [{"by": "puszczyk", "context": "AI-pilled SWE", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206869", "date": "2026-10-23"}, {"by": "godelski", "context": "keyboard-oriented user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50076570", "date": "2026-10-13"}, {"by": "atombender", "context": "uses Google SSO at work and personal accounts", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884359", "date": "2026-09-28"}, {"by": "Swalden123", "context": "Mac user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517198", "date": "2026-09-01"}, {"by": "antibarbarus", "context": "Linux user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49255677", "date": "2026-08-11"}, {"by": "tomaszjanusz", "context": "built a fingerprinting extension", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49126469", "date": "2026-07-31"}], "tags": ["for former Arc users", "for Firefox users", "for keyboard-driven users", "cross-platform", "open source"], "use_cases": ["web browsing", "daily browser", "browser", "web browser", "daily browsing", "arc replacement browser"], "compared": [{"slug": "firefox", "name": "Firefox", "co": 41, "switched_from": 5, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "arc", "name": "Arc", "co": 23, "switched_from": 11, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "waterfox", "name": "Waterfox", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "librewolf", "name": "LibreWolf", "co": 7, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "brave", "name": "Brave", "co": 7, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "vivaldi", "name": "Vivaldi", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "safari", "name": "Safari", "co": 6, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "helium", "name": "Helium", "co": 7, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 789932768, "item_id": 49370798, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49370798", "by": "rukshn", "date": "2026-08-19", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "connected my email and calendar to a simple agent I built via MCP and I get a summery of important emails", "excerpt": "This I fully agree. I think I was few who never wanted to try Open Claw or wanted to connect my accounts because I saw someone at Meta getting their emails deleted. Then after I listened to Garry\u2019s talk on Gbrain last week I thought why not give it a try. So connected my email and calendar to a simple agent I built via MCP and I get a summery of important emails and also delete all non important ones. Still a WIP: ht", "context": "", "use_case": "email summaries and cleanup", "switched_from": "", "story": "Launch HN: OneCLI (YC S26) \u2013 OSS sandboxed agent harness for teams"}, {"id": 776491264, "item_id": 48530704, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48530704", "by": "anfragment", "date": "2026-06-14", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "system-wide filtering disables ads and tracking not just in browsers, but desktop apps as well", "excerpt": "I'm working on a system-wide desktop ad-blocker and privacy guard called Zen (for almost 2.5 years now): https://github.com/irbis-sh/zen-desktop Working on it has been a joy as ad-blocking tech touches so many aspects of software engineering - from systems and security to the intricacies of JS environments in browsers. Benefits-wise, system-wide filtering disables ads and tracking not just in browsers, but desktop ap", "context": "", "use_case": "system-wide ad-blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are you working on? (June 2026)"}, {"id": 773690864, "item_id": 48355679, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48355679", "by": "arendjr", "date": "2026-06-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen is simply a fork of Zed for those who are happy to use an IDE free from AI, telemetry, and other cloud-based services. I use it as my daily driver", "excerpt": "Zen is simply a fork of Zed for those who are happy to use an IDE free from AI, telemetry, and other cloud-based services. I use it as my daily driver and intend to maintain it so that I can also use it as the base for some non-developer tooling I want to create. Only tested on Linux for now, though Zed's support for other platforms should be (mostly?) intact.", "context": "maintainer of the fork", "use_case": "daily code editor", "switched_from": "", "story": "Zen: A distraction-free code editor based on Zed"}, {"id": 741739456, "item_id": 46358716, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46358716", "by": "bikeshaving", "date": "2025-12-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I think this approach is promising", "excerpt": "This is a nice coincidence. I\u2019ve been heads-down on publishing a JavaScript full-stack metaframework before the end of the year. However, in the past two weeks I\u2019ve been goaded by Claude Code to extract and publish a separate database client because my vision includes Django-style admin/forms. The idea is to use Zod to define tables, and then use raw SQL fragments with JavaScript template tags. The library adds a tin", "context": "building a JavaScript full-stack metaframework", "use_case": "Database client with Zod", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Rise of SQL:the second programming language everyone needs to know"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50197601", "title": "A farewell to Arc browser", "mentions": 11}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48219060", "title": "Vivaldi 8.0: our biggest design overhaul", "mentions": 5}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198852", "title": "Ask HN: What browser should I use? (RIP Arc)", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46316409", "title": "Firefox will have an option to disable all AI features", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46170402", "title": "Nook Browser", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50051097", "title": "Crest \u2013 an Arc-inspired open-source browser for Mac", "mentions": 3}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 7}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 9, "compare": 2, "warn": 2, "neutral": 2}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 4, "warn": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 3, "warn": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 3, "warn": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 7, "neutral": 3, "warn": 3}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 8}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 4, "recommend": 1, "warn": 2}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 1}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 8, "neutral": 2, "compare": 1}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 17, "warn": 2, "compare": 1, "neutral": 3}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 804717648, "item_id": 50294853, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50294853", "by": "d3Xt3r", "date": "2026-10-29", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Don't use Firefox, use Zen Browser", "excerpt": "Don't use Firefox, use Zen Browser[1] instead. It's based on Firefox but has a modern UI/UX, it's optimised for speed, has better privacy defaults, and no AI crap. [1] https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "Tell HN: I know Firefox has update when it starts to glitch"}, {"id": 803908464, "item_id": 50244279, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50244279", "by": "Nerdrotic", "date": "2026-10-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Switched to Zen never looked back.", "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": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803864112, "item_id": 50241507, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50241507", "by": "MrAlex94", "date": "2026-10-26", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Congratulations to the developers of Zen, they've done so well with it.", "excerpt": "Congratulations to the developers of Zen, they've done so well with it. I can't help but be envious at the attention they've been getting the past year or so, it's what I only dreamed of what I would achieve with Waterfox. In a sense, I'd always hoped I'd end up being the alternative to the big boys, but I never quite got there - good for them.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Zen Browser is the Arc replacement I was looking for"}, {"id": 803856272, "item_id": 50241017, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50241017", "by": "luplex", "date": "2026-10-26", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Zen btw", "excerpt": "it completely clips when viewing on firefox (I use Zen btw). Like half the pixels are pure white. Looks fine on chromium.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: A Truly Modular Keyboard"}, {"id": 803439760, "item_id": 50214985, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214985", "by": "butlike", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen now appears to be a drop-in replacement", "excerpt": "Yes, there's a github tool. I just ran the Arc-to-Zen tool from https://github.com/Thinkscape/arc-to-zen and it imported everything flawlessly. Zen now appears to be a drop-in replacement. Try it out!", "context": "", "use_case": "Browser replacing Arc", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803391554, "item_id": 50211972, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50211972", "by": "yamanahlawat", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "nothing feels the same", "excerpt": "amen! i was a heavy firefox user, switched to arc now tried zen, dia, chrome, firefox.. nothing feels the same.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803375136, "item_id": 50210946, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50210946", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "but it's really improved", "excerpt": "Just migrated to Zen this afternoon using https://github.com/Thinkscape/arc-to-zen, it's ok so far. I tried Zen a few months ago and at the time it didn't feel great compared to Arc (some transitions were not very smooth, some things didn't work just like in Arc) but it's really improved. After just a few hours I don't really feel a difference. As a bonus it's based on Firefox so uBlock Origin is available.", "context": "", "use_case": "Browser replacing Arc", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803320880, "item_id": 50207555, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50207555", "by": "d3Xt3r", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "on Zen, I use Readability based Reader View and it does the job", "excerpt": "I haven't used Safari Reader so can't say how it compares, but on Zen, I use Readability based Reader View and it does the job, can't really complain about it. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/readability-based-reader-view/", "context": "", "use_case": "browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What browser should I use? (RIP Arc)"}, {"id": 803309904, "item_id": 50206869, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50206869", "by": "puszczyk", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "i've installed zen on a modern mbp pro and so far really like it", "excerpt": "thanks for the recommendation, i was a bit skeptical because i wasn't happy with the firefox ui/ux and i had a vague recollection it destroy battery life nevertheless, i've installed zen on a modern mbp pro and so far really like it the biggest miss is the little arc (there's the glance feature, but it only works when navigating from within existing pages) i don't miss ai crap at all -- i'm an AI pilled SWE, but clau", "context": "AI-pilled SWE", "use_case": "Arc replacement browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "Ask HN: What browser should I use? (RIP Arc)"}, {"id": 803266816, "item_id": 50204176, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50204176", "by": "milch", "date": "2026-10-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Zen as my work browser", "excerpt": "I use Zen as my work browser but weirdly the developers seem to have a few Arc features they are actively opposed to despite ... let's say taking heavy inspiration from Arc otherwise. Two examples I can think of off the top of my head are the auto closing of tabs, and preventing websites from taking over certain keyboard shortcuts.", "context": "", "use_case": "work browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803231440, "item_id": 50201965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50201965", "by": "petemilly", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Ben Werdmuller recommends Zen", "excerpt": "Thanks. I also just saw Ben Werdmuller recommends Zen https://werd.io/why-im-all-in-on-zen-browser", "context": "", "use_case": "Arc replacement browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What browser should I use? (RIP Arc)"}, {"id": 803216448, "item_id": 50201028, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50201028", "by": "constantlm", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Can highly recommend it as a near drop-in replacement for Arc, albeit built on Firefox.", "excerpt": "I've been expecting this news for a while, and I moved to Zen when they changed direction originally. Can highly recommend it as a near drop-in replacement for Arc, albeit built on Firefox. https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803191232, "item_id": 50199452, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50199452", "by": "d3Xt3r", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen Browser, it's based on Firefox but it's pretty sleek and borrows a lot of concepts from Arc", "excerpt": "Zen Browser, it's based on Firefox but it's pretty sleek and borrows a lot of concepts from Arc, so it would be the most obvious replacement I reckon. https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "Arc replacement browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What browser should I use? (RIP Arc)"}, {"id": 803180065, "item_id": 50198754, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198754", "by": "usrme", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "am now trying my luck with Zen browser", "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": "replacement for Arc", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803177264, "item_id": 50198579, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198579", "by": "Ardakilic", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "You could try Zen browser. It's like Arc, but Firefox based.", "excerpt": "You could try Zen browser. It's like Arc, but Firefox based. Or if you like Chromium engine you could try Helium Browser, which I moved to personally and never looked back.", "context": "", "use_case": "Arc replacement", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803173056, "item_id": 50198316, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198316", "by": "lnenad", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Zen turned to shit for me in the last month. So many stupid bugs started happening.", "excerpt": "Zen turned to shit for me in the last month. So many stupid bugs started happening. For example, clicking on exes in the downloads would retrigger the download instead of running the file. Random crashes. I was able to drag the whole window by clicking on random parts of the page (I noticed this as I highlight text during reading). It got very slow. I tried to report these but the button to report would actually redi", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803172512, "item_id": 50198282, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198282", "by": "odo1242", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen Browser is what I've been using", "excerpt": "Zen Browser is what I've been using (https://zen-browser.app/)", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803167392, "item_id": 50197962, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50197962", "by": "jamie_ca", "date": "2026-10-22", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm pretty happy having switched to Zen", "excerpt": "Writing was on the wall once they pivoted to Dia, I'm pretty happy having switched to Zen (though for a few things that matter, it's Firefox-based not Chrome). https://zen-browser.app/ They picked up a lot of cues from Arc - sidebar tabs, pinned vs generic tabs, global bookmarks, spaces...", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 801367490, "item_id": 50085468, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50085468", "by": "OroPla", "date": "2026-10-14", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "I'd give Zen a try, too, but it's not in the repositories of my Linux machine", "excerpt": "It's because since FF3.5 they only made the browsing experience worse. To the point I hate updating Firefox, because it there's a chance it will do something silly I'll have to fix. But all the other browsers are even worse. I'd really like to move to qutebrowser, but it doesn't have good enough adblocking. I'd give Zen a try, too, but it's not in the repositories of my Linux machine and I'm never installing a browse", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox Enterprise"}, {"id": 801225120, "item_id": 50076570, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50076570", "by": "godelski", "date": "2026-10-13", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm a big keyboard person so I love it, especially with the vimium plugin", "excerpt": "Most people don't like Zen (or Arc). Which is fine. I'm a big keyboard person so I love it, especially with the vimium plugin. But sometimes people get confused at my browser because they don't know how to navigate. Which is understandable What I like about Mozilla is they made a hackable browser so we can have things like Zen, WaterFox, or whatever floats your boat.", "context": "keyboard-oriented user", "use_case": "keyboard-driven browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Thunderbird for iOS"}, {"id": 800861232, "item_id": 50053827, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50053827", "by": "bkummel", "date": "2026-10-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Why do we need this if there's already Zen?", "excerpt": "Why do we need this if there's already Zen? (https://zen-browser.app/)", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Crest \u2013 an Arc-inspired open-source browser for Mac"}, {"id": 800845680, "item_id": 50052855, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50052855", "by": "matzie", "date": "2026-10-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "promote Zen, i love it", "excerpt": "Also just wanna get in here and promote Zen, i love it. But the crest and design things here seem nice", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Crest \u2013 an Arc-inspired open-source browser for Mac"}, {"id": 800844209, "item_id": 50052763, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50052763", "by": "Vinnl", "date": "2026-10-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Of course this comment section also warrants a mention of Zen Browser, another Arc alternative", "excerpt": "Appears to use Chromium by default, and also ship WebKit to toggle for individual websites: https://crestbrowser.com/guides/engines/ Of course this comment section also warrants a mention of Zen Browser, another Arc alternative that's been going for a while already, is based on Firefox, and is available cross-platform: https://zen-browser.app", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Crest \u2013 an Arc-inspired open-source browser for Mac"}, {"id": 799201265, "item_id": 49950079, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49950079", "by": "ToyKeeper", "date": "2026-10-04", "version": null, "stance": "warn", "quote": "Impossible to support: Zen Browser", "excerpt": "Dang, looking at this later, I realize I forgot again that HN doesn't support common list formatting. If I put one \"- item\" per line, it joins them all into a single paragraph. And now it's too late to edit. It should work if I put a blank line between each item though. That last bit was supposed to say: - Supported: Firefox, Chrome, Edge, Floorp, Chromium, Brave, Vivaldi, Librewolf, Waterfox, Ungoogled Chromium, Tho", "context": "browser extension developer", "use_case": "browser extension testing", "switched_from": "", "story": "An Update on Orion for Linux and Windows"}, {"id": 799161024, "item_id": 49947564, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49947564", "by": "kavith", "date": "2026-10-03", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Zen [1] primarily the last couple of hours and it seems to have come a long way since I last tried it.", "excerpt": "hmm, I don't know - I've been using Zen [1] primarily the last couple of hours and it seems to have come a long way since I last tried it. Thanks for sharing carbonyl & brownsh, they seem quite cool. Just not sure they'd be the perfect fit for me as my primary browser. [1] https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "Primary browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox 157"}, {"id": 798481746, "item_id": 49905109, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49905109", "by": "thiht", "date": "2026-09-30", "version": null, "stance": "compare", "quote": "it just doesn\u2019t have the same level of polish", "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": 798156352, "item_id": 49884772, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884772", "by": "horrorente", "date": "2026-09-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There is also Zen which is quite active", "excerpt": "There is also Zen which is quite active: https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798149744, "item_id": 49884359, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884359", "by": "atombender", "date": "2026-09-28", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Does Zen have multi-account container tabs? Edit: Yes, it does!", "excerpt": "Does Zen have multi-account container tabs? Edit: Yes, it does! [1] (I need them partly because of Google, as Google has a broken login system. I use GGP at work plus a bunch of work apps that use Google for SSO. But for some products like Maps and YouTube, I use my personal account. Doing that on e.g. Chrome is painful, because every URL opens with whatever is your default login, and whatever I set as the default, i", "context": "uses Google SSO at work and personal accounts", "use_case": "multi-account browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798148336, "item_id": 49884271, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884271", "by": "Vinnl", "date": "2026-09-28", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "you should try Zen! It's basically Arc, but based on Firefox, open source and, more importantly, actively maintained.", "excerpt": "> I LOVED Arc. I assume you've heard of it, but just in case you haven't: you should try Zen! It's basically Arc, but based on Firefox, open source and, more importantly, actively maintained. https://zen-browser.app", "context": "", "use_case": "Firefox-based browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 797368720, "item_id": 49835545, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49835545", "by": "krzs9", "date": "2026-09-24", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "if you would like a super minimal daily driver", "excerpt": "https://zen-browser.app/ - if you would like a super minimal daily driver", "context": "", "use_case": "minimal daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Search \u2013 A small, fast WebKit browser for macOS"}, {"id": 793782133, "item_id": 49611383, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49611383", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-09-08", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "", "excerpt": "> if all this effort went in to improving Firefox, or a fork of Firefox Someone tried to instigate that on Mastodon recently. It didn't work. https://mastodon.social/@sarahjamielewis/116959309031485270 Spread the word. Contact the developers, ask them. The forks I know about: \u2022 Waterfox -- https://www.waterfox.com/ \u2022 Librewolf -- https://librewolf.net/ \u2022 Floorp -- https://floorp.app/ \u2022 Zen browser -- https://zen-brow", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "This Month in Ladybird \u2013 August 2026"}, {"id": 792492496, "item_id": 49530781, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530781", "by": "Insanity", "date": "2026-09-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've switched to Zen about a year ago after ~2 decades of Firefox.", "excerpt": "I'm holding on.. in a way. I've switched to Zen about a year ago after ~2 decades of Firefox. It's a fork of Firefox so I'm counting it as supporting Firefox anyway. However, on my iPhone and iPad I've stuck with Safari. Because it's \"good enough\", I'm not a heavy phone user, and really any browser on iOS is just a reskin of Safari given they don't allow different web browser engines.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop browser", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}, {"id": 792482624, "item_id": 49530164, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530164", "by": "wlesieutre", "date": "2026-09-02", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Other people do fork Firefox though, like Zen browser", "excerpt": "Other people do fork Firefox though, like Zen browser https://zen-browser.app/ https://github.com/zen-browser/desktop", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}, {"id": 792479264, "item_id": 49529954, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49529954", "by": "jkahrs595", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Zen (firefox under the hood) and I just don't understand all of the bitching people do about Firefox.", "excerpt": "I use Zen (firefox under the hood) and I just don't understand all of the bitching people do about Firefox. Once I learned all about manifest v2 deprecation it was such an easy decision to move away from Chromium based browsers. The transition was one of the most painless things I've ever done in the software world. Literally what is the issue?", "context": "", "use_case": "browser", "switched_from": "Chromium-based browsers", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}, {"id": 792282528, "item_id": 49517658, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517658", "by": "krrrh", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recently switched from Safari to Zen and the Firefox extension for Apple passwords works well.", "excerpt": "I recently switched from Safari to Zen and the Firefox extension for Apple passwords works well. You have to enter a pushed 6 digit code when you first start the browser, but it\u2019s relatively painless.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "Safari", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 792275168, "item_id": 49517198, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517198", "by": "Swalden123", "date": "2026-09-01", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "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": "Mac user", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Arc", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 792244512, "item_id": 49515282, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49515282", "by": "slfnflctd", "date": "2026-08-31", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Zen is my favorite browser experience by far", "excerpt": "I recently switched to Zen with Ublock Origin and it does seem like some sites are slower than before. It's got me suspicious that site owners are increasingly throttling users with adblockers. YouTube absolutely does. Zen is my favorite browser experience by far, and I've been using the web since Netscape in 1994. But the slowdowns do put a damper on things. Also some of the streaming platforms don't seem to play ni", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 790964464, "item_id": 49435279, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49435279", "by": "cosmic_cheese", "date": "2026-08-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it may be worth checking out the Firefox-based Zen Browser", "excerpt": "If the browser being Chromium-based isn\u2019t a hard requirement, it may be worth checking out the Firefox-based Zen Browser[0]. Its UI is very similar to that of Arc, to the point that I\u2019d call it Arc\u2019s spiritual successor. [0]: https://zen-browser.app/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra"}, {"id": 789368640, "item_id": 49335540, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49335540", "by": "astudentinearth", "date": "2026-08-17", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I recommend giving a try to alternatives like Zen or Helium", "excerpt": "Much needed list. On the browser front, I recommend giving a try to alternatives like Zen or Helium, which are Firefox and Chromium based respectively. For AI buttons that specifically bug you, content blockers like uBlock Origin are especially helpful to zap them out of the page.", "context": "", "use_case": "avoiding intrusive AI in browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI"}, {"id": 788746497, "item_id": 49296656, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49296656", "by": "suveshmoza", "date": "2026-08-14", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I also use Zen as my secondary browser.", "excerpt": "Glide is my go-to browser. I like it for its extensibility, commandline, keymaps, hints, and the ability to configure everything through a ts file. I also use Zen as my secondary browser.", "context": "", "use_case": "secondary browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What browser do you use?"}]}