On October 25th, 2024, the CEO of The Browser Company, Josh Miller, announced on Twitter that Arc Browser isn’t going to get any new features, and just maintenance patches. This came as a complete surprise to me, as Arc was just released less than 3 years ago. I used Arc as my only desktop browser for school and home. I had my doubts about Arc for a while, from its non-existent monetization to its security. But now, I just had no choice but to undergo the task of switching browsers. So, what did I go with?

My Criteria

1. Has to have vertical tabs
   I’m so used to how Arc’s amazing tab management works that I cannot use a browser like Chrome or out-of-the-box Firefox. I’m accustomed to more vertical space and having tabs on the left.
2. Extensions are a MUST
   I absolutely need uBlock Origin, or at least uBO Lite. I built myself an ad-free experience on the Internet and can’t go back. So, this means that the browser I pick has to be compatible with either Chrome or Firefox extensions.
3. Easy Switching Between Profiles
   As previously mentioned, I use my browser for school. I would like to have all my school stuff isolated from my normal browser profile. Arc had a Spaces feature where you could just swipe sideways to switch profiles, but this was unique to Arc.

SigmaOS

Right off the bat, this looks a lot like Arc, especially if you hide the top URL bar. But it also has some customization limitations, such as not being able to switch the new tab (or new page as SigmaOS calls it) on your own. SigmaOS does have workspaces that have their own profiles that can be switched between with a keyboard shortcut. Speaking of shortcuts, I don’t like SigmaOS’s single-key shortcuts. I couldn’t easily change the shortcut keys from the settings either, which is weird because there’s a whole menu for it. I kept getting a conflicting keybinds warning, even though when I clicked the show conflicts button it didn’t show the shortcut it was conflicting with. SigmaOS isn’t based on Chromium or Firefox, but instead built on WebKit, the same engine as Safari (which I will get to in a bit). However, it has Chrome extension support and a built-in uBlock Origin. But, when I went onto YouTube, I was flooded with ads. I don’t know if this is a SigmaOS or a uBO problem, but I couldn’t figure out how to fix it in-browser. Plus, SigmaOS is Mac-only, no mobile versions available. So, this was a pretty easy contender to knock out.

Zen

Again, a very Arc-like browser in terms of design, but this time based on Firefox instead of WebKit or Chromium. It even has the same pinned tabs design as Arc. But, where Zen falls short is polish. This is probably because it’s still in alpha, and most of my issues should be solved in the full release. Sometimes when I made a new tab and started typing, it wouldn’t select the URL bar or even the search bar. If I tried changing the color theme, it would change from light mode to dark mode instead of just changing the accent color. Another negative for Zen for me is the lack of easy profile switching. It does sync with Firefox, so I’m keeping Zen on my radar as a possible option when it fully releases.

Vivaldi

I was really looking forward to trying Vivaldi again a day after its brand new redesign. It reminds me a lot of Opera, but without all the spyware. It also has a neat Workspaces feature that rivals Arc and the browser I eventually went with. But again, maybe it’s because the redesign is brand new, it’s not all that polished. I couldn’t figure out how to hide the bottom control bar, and the overall browser felt more geared towards a tech-savvy grandpa than anyone else. It’s cluttered and maximalist, which is a stark contrast to the Arc I came from.

Safari

Nope.

Orion

To all Safari users: just use Orion. It has both Chrome and Firefox extension support, is built on the very resource efficient WebKit engine, and looks very familiar to any Safari user. It has three tab options: normal, compact, and vertical. I normally like vertical tabs, but the way the browser frame was built it wouldn’t have taken up any less space to go with compact instead. It’s made by Kagi, the only paid search engine I know of. And unlike Arc, it has a clear monetization structure with Orion Plus. But the main thing I do on my browser at home, watch YouTube and Plex, didn’t work smoothly on Orion. So, onto the final browser I ended up choosing:

Edge

Edge is just a cozy browser. It’s available on every platform, has nice customization options, and is based on a very lightweight version of Chromium that takes up even less resources than Ungoogled Chromium does by default. It has profiles, shared workspaces, and vertical tabs. It does have some bloat, but it can be easily ignored and turned off.

So, I ended up going with Edge. I have no real complaints about it, and it’s very polished and does everything I need it to do. Switching from Arc to Edge turned out to be smoother than I expected, and I’m genuinely pleased with the experience so far. While Arc’s departure is disappointing, Edge offers the right balance of features, performance, and cross-platform support, making it a reliable replacement for both school and personal use.