Yab Is a Free Arc Alternative for Mac With Claude and ChatGPT

Yab, which stands for Yet Another Browser, is a free web browser for Mac. It is made for people who miss the Arc browser. It also has AI tools that work with your existing Claude or ChatGPT plan. Yab is small, taking up about 40 MB of space. You do not need to create an account, but your Mac must have macOS 15.4 or newer.

Yab is made by Serafim Korablev. The newest version is 0.35.5, which you can download from the Yab website. Yab uses WebKit, the same technology built into macOS that helps browsers show websites. This keeps the app small. Another Mac browser called Search uses the same approach.

Yab Keeps Arc Features Like Spaces, Pins, Peek and Split View

Yab can bring your information over from Arc, Dia, Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Brave. If you switch from Arc, Yab keeps all your spaces, pinned tabs and folders in the same places. Each one also keeps its original color.

• Peek. Hold down Shift and click a link to open it in a small window over the page you are viewing. When you close that window, you return to your original page.
• Split View. When you open a link with Peek, you can click once to place it next to your original page. Both sides have their own address bar.
• Command-T. When you open a new tab, Yab suggests what you might need next. For example, it might show a meeting starting in 12 minutes or a tab you were just using.
• Tabs on top. If you are used to Chrome, you can choose to show your tabs across the top of the window, with the address bar underneath.

According to Yab's website, the app takes up 40 MB of space, compared with 1.4 GB for Chrome. Yab also blocks ads before they can load. It uses about 160,000 blocking rules from uBlock Origin's lists. You can turn off ad blocking for a particular website with one switch.

You can install Chrome extensions from the Chrome Web Store. These include Bitwarden, uBlock Origin Lite and Grammarly. Yab can also keep your spaces, tabs and passwords the same across your Macs. This information is locked with encryption on your Mac before it is sent to another device.

Yab Uses Your Claude or ChatGPT Plan for AI Features

You can connect a Claude Pro or Max plan, or a ChatGPT Plus or Pro plan, to Yab. The browser then uses that plan to power its AI tools. You do not need a separate Yab account or have to pay another AI fee. Yab also supports Apple Intelligence for free. Starting with version 0.35, you can connect Cursor or Gemini directly. Gemini works without needing another paid AI plan.

• Ask from the address bar. Type a question into the new tab field, and the AI answer appears right there.
• Command-J on any page. Press Command-J to have Claude write or rewrite text directly inside a website's text box. Nothing is sent until you press Send.
• Errands in their own tabs. You can ask Claude to find the best espresso grinder under $300 by checking ten websites. Claude opens separate tabs to do the work and can use up to eight helpers at the same time. When it finishes, it creates an answer page showing its choice, a comparison table and the sources it used.
• Approval before anything final. Yab asks for your permission before the AI sends something, makes a payment, deletes something or uploads a file. Yab enters your passwords itself, so Claude never sees them.
• Routines. You can set up repeating tasks, such as checking your email and Linear every weekday at 9. These tasks run automatically while Yab is open. By default, they can only read information, not change it.
• Folders that keep up. You can make a folder update itself on a schedule. For example, it could regularly find new listings for one-bedroom homes below a price you choose.

AI coding tools such as Claude Code, Codex and Cursor can control Yab through MCP or a command called yab. This works in a similar way to how Safari 27's MCP server lets AI coding tools work with Safari.

You can also select some text and press Command-J to use tools such as Improve Writing, Fix Spelling, Translate and Summarize. These tools run directly on your Mac, so the selected words never leave your computer.

Yab 0.35 Adds PDF Tools, File Search and a Purchases Page

Yab version 0.35 came out on October 22 and added many new features.

• Pin Pair. You can save both sides of a Split View together as one square in the sidebar.
• PDF Fill and Sign. Yab can fill in a PDF using information from your profile. You can also add text or a signature. It saves the signed version in your Downloads folder without changing the original PDF.
• Files. You can search for downloaded files, email attachments and files you have sent, all in one place. Yab can also search for words inside supported documents.
• Purchases. Yab can find receipts, orders and subscriptions in emails stored in the browser. It also shows how much you spend each month.
• Dark pages. Dark Reader is now built into Yab, so you can make websites appear dark.

Yab also organizes your browsing history into groups of pages from each day. You can rename these groups, remove them from your history or ask questions about them and get answers with sources.

Yab is free to download for Macs with macOS 15.4 or newer. There is also an iPhone version being tested, which you can try through TestFlight.

Our Take

People who used Arc already have several other browsers they can choose from. Yab's main selling point is that it keeps familiar Arc features, including the sidebar, Peek and Split View, while adding AI tools that do not cost extra if you already pay for a supported AI plan. Yab is another choice for people looking for alternatives to ChatGPT Atlas. However, its AI features depend on having a Claude or ChatGPT plan, so make sure your plan is supported before you switch.