I know many of you are mourning the loss of Arc Browser, and I understand. It felt like the first app in a long time to really offer a new approach to browser design. Atlassian bought the company last year and focused on developing Dia, its even more AI-focused browser. And soon, Arc will officially be no more, leaving dedicated users in the lurch. But I switched from Arc a while ago to Zen Browser and haven’t really missed it. If you’re willing to deal with some minor inconveniences, I think you’ll find that Zen is the Arc replacement you’re looking for.
Zen shamelessly rips off all of Arc’s best bits. Visually, they are almost indistinguishable. It features launcher-style pinned sites, a tab bar on the left, partitioned spaces, and mods that allow you to customize the browser UI to your liking. It takes the elements that made Arc’s interface feel fresh, then removes everything that made it bloated and leads me into the arms of another.
Most notably, Zen is AI-free.
There’s no agent in a sidebar pestering me to let them handle tasks. I don’t worry about Zen training an LLM on my browsing activity. It’s just a web browser.
Zen prides itself on its privacy features: “Beautifully designed, privacy-focused, and feature-rich. We care about your experience, not your data,” it proudly proclaims. Now I’m not stupid. I know nothing I do on the internet is truly private, but with Arc I always felt like my data was an integral part of the business plan. This is not the case with Zen. It is a free and open source project that relies on volunteers and donations.
In addition to Zen Mods which can do everything from changing the appearance of an active tab to overhauling the way PiP videos are handled, you can also install Firefox extensions. Yes, you can install Chrome extensions in Arc, but anecdotally I’ve found that Zen handles extensions better. Zen and Arc are different enough from a UI perspective that not all extensions display correctly, but Zen has more workarounds.
Zen also kind of allows me to focus on the task at hand. The links open in “glance” mode, which is a temporary pop-up tab, which is really great when you’re window shopping or light searching. If I want to open it in an appropriate tab, it’s just a click away. Zen also has a floating bar that appears whenever you press Command+T or CTRL+T. From there, you can launch a new tab, switch to an existing tab, search from your search engine of choice, and even trigger an extension.
Zen is not perfect. I love its clean user interface and organizational features, but it can’t play DRM-protected video content at the moment. This means that Netflix, Spotify, HBO, Disney+ and many others do not work in Zen. The Zen team is working to license Widevine from Google. In the meantime, I use Chrome when I want to watch a movie, which is great. Zen is built on Firefox and Firefox’s Web MIDI support is lacking. So I have to launch Chrome semi-regularly anyway.
I also miss Arc Boosts in some cases, but I’ve learned to accept the web as it is. Zen implemented a similar Boost feature in May, but it’s not very obvious and, if there is an official, easily searchable repository of installable Boosts, I haven’t found it yet. Instead, you have to change the appearance of each site yourself.
If you tried Zen a long time ago and were discouraged by its buggy early versions, rest assured it’s been a long road. Look, if you’re all about Arc’s AI features, Dia is probably more your speed. Personally, I always loved Arc’s interface, but I never really appreciated its atmosphere. Zen feels good.
Updated October 25: Added information on Zen’s implementation of Boosts.
Gn tech
