Arc
Chromium-based desktop web browser from The Browser Company, built around sidebar tabs and spaces.
HN commenters like Arc for its vertical tabs and spaces,123 its polished design,456 and an overall UX several call near perfect.78910 The most common complaint is that development has stopped,11121314 which has left users wary of The Browser Company and moving to Zen or Orion.1516171819
Why people recommend it
Overall UX · 3
Long-time users call it the perfect or near-perfect browser and say no alternative offers the same UX.
“I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser”
Show 1 more
“Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX.”
Tab organization · 3
Vertical sidebar tabs and spaces are praised as an intuitive way to organize tabs.
“I use ARC, for vertical organized tabs. Really like it.”
“I use the Arc browser -- it has a different way of organizing tabs into spaces in a quite intuitive and easy way.”
Show 1 more
“Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.”
Design and polish · 3
Commenters call it gorgeous and more polished than open-source look-alikes like Zen.
“some browsers (Arc, Dia) are so gorgeous you don't want to work with anything else”
“they’re both innovative in ways that’s not matched by open source counterparts”
Show 1 more
“They just had to look at Arc for what people want out of the future of browser design”
Specific features · 2
Splits, page editability and Google Meet picture-in-picture keep some users coming back.
“Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.”
“I always end up coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature”
Still usable · 2
Some still use it daily because it remains usable and receives Chromium updates.
“Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great.”
“I always end up coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature”
Caveats and dissent
Discontinued · 3
Arc is being sunset or kept in maintenance mode, which prompted users to switch away.
“Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX.”
“I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset”
Show 1 more
Vendor distrust · 2
Some distrust The Browser Company after it dropped Arc in favor of the AI-focused Dia.
“I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser”
Alternatives catching up · 2
Some users who moved to Zen say they don't miss Arc, and one says Zen now surpasses it.
“I wanted a browser with no UX and that's what Arc delivered”
“I switched from Arc to Zen”
Mobile support · 2
One user cites the lack of a proper mobile browser, though another reports no problems with the iOS app.
“I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser”
“Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great.”
Often compared with
6 moved from Arc to ZenDia10 comments mention both
2 moved from Arc to Dia
1 moved from Arc to FirefoxSafari6 comments mention both
2 moved from Arc to Safari
2 moved from Arc to HeliumChrome3 comments mention both
1 moved from Chrome to Arc
1 moved from Arc to Chrome
1 moved from Arc to Orion
From the makers not counted in the ranking
“For now Arc is staying in Github: https://github.com/Basekick-Labs/arc”
Threads where it came up
- A farewell to Arc browser 5 mentions
- I switched to Brave 3 mentions
- The new Firefox design is here 2 mentions
- Art: Keep using Arc after shutdown 1 mention
- Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome) 1 mention
- Thunderbird for iOS 1 mention
Data: arc.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 17
“Arc Browser (my browser for 5-6 years straight) shuts down soon with basically no similar alternatives offering the same UX.”
“I wanted a browser with no UX and that's what Arc delivered”
“For a while Arc was my main”
“Arc was the perfect browser for me.”
“I've been using Arc for years now and am really sad to see it being sunset”
“Lots of the ideas from arc were good. Sidebar tabs, splits, page editability.”
“I did try to switch from Arc to Safari on my laptop and my experience was much less pleasant.”
“some browsers (Arc, Dia) are so gorgeous you don't want to work with anything else”
“they’re both innovative in ways that’s not matched by open source counterparts”
“They just had to look at Arc for what people want out of the future of browser design”
“Arc is still usable and gets chromium updates. It's still my daily driver since as you said, it's great.”
“I always end up coming back for the goddamn Google Meet PIP feature”
“I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser”
“I switched from Arc to Zen”
“I used to use arc”
“I use ARC, for vertical organized tabs. Really like it.”
“I use the Arc browser -- it has a different way of organizing tabs into spaces in a quite intuitive and easy way.”