Why Zen is good
When Arc stopped getting new features in 2025, Zen is where a lot of its users went, and for good reason. It has workspaces, a compact mode that hides everything but the page, Split View for up to four tabs, Glance for previewing a link without leaving the page, and a built-in importer for your Arc data. It is free, it is open source, and it runs on Firefox rather than yet another copy of Chrome.
If what you miss about Arc is the sidebar itself, Zen is the answer and you can stop reading here.
What a list cannot do
A sidebar, however good, is a list of names with one page behind it. Every task that touches three sites becomes three trips through the list — the demo above takes three switches at the very least, and most people spend more the first time. Split View helps until the fifth site, and then you are rearranging panes instead of working.
Tabula keeps a sidebar — pinned favourites, a list of every open site, zones for separating work from everything else — but the list is not where you work. Behind it is an infinite canvas, and every site you open is a live tile on it. Put the inbox next to the dashboard next to the chat, and a three-site task is three glances. Why arranging things in space works.
Zen and Tabula, side by side
| Feature | Zen | Tabula |
|---|---|---|
| Engine | Firefox (Gecko) | Chromium |
| How tabs are shown | A vertical sidebar | A sidebar, plus live tiles on an infinite canvas |
| Sites on screen at once | Up to four in Split View | As many as you arrange |
| Separate contexts | Workspaces and Container Tabs | Zones, each sharing your logins or keeping its own |
| Ad and tracker blocking | Firefox tracking protection, plus any add-on | Built in |
| Extensions | Firefox add-ons | Chrome extensions |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS only |
| Source code | Open source | Closed source |
| Price | Free | Free; paid plan $9.99/month |
Where Zen still wins
- You are on Windows or Linux. Zen runs on all three desktop platforms; Tabula is Mac only.
- You rely on Firefox add-ons. Zen runs the Firefox add-on catalogue, including the full uBlock Origin. Tabula runs Chrome extensions instead.
- You want open source. Zen’s code is public. Tabula’s is not.
- You want a browser that is not Chromium. Outside Safari, Firefox’s engine is the only major alternative to Google’s. That is a real reason to choose Zen, and Tabula cannot offer it.
- You like tuning your browser. Zen’s Mods reshape its look in ways Tabula’s themes do not try to.
Where Tabula is the better pick
- Your work lives in five sites at once. Support, sales, operations, research — any job where the answer is spread across tools.
- You think in layouts. If you already tile windows across two monitors, a canvas is that habit without the window management.
- You want the web apps you use to behave exactly as in Chrome. Most sites are tested in Chromium first; Tabula uses it.
Questions
- Is Zen based on Firefox or Chrome?
- Firefox. Zen is built on Gecko, the Firefox engine, so it runs Firefox add-ons. Tabula is built on Chromium, the engine behind Chrome and Arc.
- Is Tabula open source like Zen?
- No. Tabula is closed source. If open source is a requirement, Zen is the better choice.
- Can I use Firefox add-ons in Tabula?
- No. Tabula is built on Chromium, so it runs Chrome extensions from the Chrome Web Store, not Firefox add-ons. Most popular add-ons have a Chrome version, and ad and tracker blocking is built in.
- Does Tabula have workspaces like Zen?
- Yes — Tabula calls them zones. Each zone is its own canvas, and you choose whether it shares your logins with other zones or keeps its own. The free plan has two zones; the paid plan has unlimited zones plus folders.
- Does Tabula run on Windows or Linux?
- Not yet. Tabula runs on macOS 12 or later, on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.