Thanks to its unique tab management, robust theme engine, digital whiteboard, and smooth animations, Arc browser quickly gained popularity among enthusiasts. However, to everyone’s surprise, The Browser Company has ceased active development on the Arc browser. While they haven’t killed it outright and security updates are still coming, Arc won’t receive any new features. I found myself searching for an alternative, and then I discovered Zen.

Powered by the Gecko engine, Zen immediately filled the void left by Arc with its familiar design and a refreshing approach to web navigation. Here’s why Zen is the perfect Arc replacement that understands how I want to interact with the internet.

Zen has the same aesthetics as Arc

You will feel right at home

Zen replicates the feeling of using Arc. As soon as I launched it, Zen greeted me with a familiar, clean aesthetic. Like Arc, Zen prioritizes vertical space and makes it easy to manage countless tabs without the horizontal clutter of traditional browsers.

It doesn’t end here. Zen also offers gradient themes. Arc’s subtle color transitions were a big part of its charm, and Zen delivers a similar experience. I can right-click on the sidebar, select theme, and apply eye-catching gradient paint with a single click. And then there are the smooth animations. This is where the attention to detail truly shines. When I open a new link, the way windows often pop up fluidly, almost like a separate instance that I can expand into a full tab, is similar to Arc.

Overall, Zen captures the same level of thoughtful design that made Arc such a pleasure to use.

Robust tab management

Straight from Arc

Zen is right up there with Arc in tab management. Much like Arc’s favorites, I can pin tabs at the top of the sidebar for easy access. My most frequently visited sites, like Gmail, Calendar, Asana, and OneDrive, are always just a click away.

And with Zen’s workspaces, I can create environments for different areas of my life – work, personal, projects, and more. Within each workspace, I can utilize containers. It’s like having multiple separate environments living within a single application.

Zen ends Chromium monopoly

Use Mozilla’s Gecko engine

One of the biggest differences between Arc and Zen lies in their rendering engines. Arc, like a vast majority of modern browsers, is built on Chromium. While Chromium is powerful and ensures excellent compatibility, it also means that a single entity (Google) largely dictates how the web is rendered and experienced.

Zen breaks away from this trend by adopting the Gecko engine, the very same powerhouse that fuels Firefox. Zen contributes to a healthier, more open web ecosystem. And let me tell you, despite not being Chromium, I haven’t run into a single website or service that doesn’t function properly. After all, Gecko is a highly popular and well-established rendering engine, refined over decades. It handles all my favorite websites and web applications without breaking a sweat.

Zen Modes has a huge potential

Up to the community to take it to the next level

Zen Modes takes the entire experience to the next level. These are community-made plugins and themes that allow you to customize your browser, both visually and functionally. Right now, there are 87 different modes available, and that number is constantly growing.

For example, I have added modes that provide more pleasant, rounded letterboxing, or even a custom loading that visually animates as pages load. It’s like having a toolkit to fine-tune every little detail to my exact preference.

Extension support isn’t a problem

Don’t leave your browser add-ons behind

Because Zen is built on the Gecko engine, it remains fully compatible with all Firefox extensions. After all, I rely on a specific suite of extensions for productivity, privacy, and customization. I haven’t had to compromise on my existing workflow or sacrifice any of the tools that I use daily.

Although Zen doesn’t have native mobile apps, you can use the existing Firefox apps to sync your bookmarks, passwords, and history.

Zen offers better privacy

Thanks to its open-source nature

While I appreciated Arc’s design and features, it was always a closed-source browser. Zen is an open-source solution. That means the browser’s entire code is available to review. Any security expert or researcher can review the source code and see how the browser functions in the background.

RIP Arc browser

Overall, Zen browser beautifully captures everything I cherished about Arc’s design and functionality. Of course, going forward, I hope to see the same theming engine (to change a website's look) and whiteboard integration in Zen. While Firefox does the duties on mobile and tablet, I would take a native Zen app over Mozilla’s solution any day.

If you are looking for a browser that combines aesthetics with practical efficiency, or if you have been searching for that ‘Arc vibe’ in an actively developed package, I encourage you to give Zen a try. Meanwhile, check out our dedicated post if you want to search for more open-source browsers.