Dia Browser Alternatives in 2026: Zen, Brave, Comet and Merlin

The right replacement for Dia comes down to the part of Dia you wanted. Zen Browser is the closest match for an Arc-style layout, at no cost. Brave suits people who want an AI assistant that needs no account and can use local models. Perplexity's Comet is built for handing web tasks to an agent. Merlin, which we make, runs on a Mac next to your browser, not instead of it.

Two dates brought a lot of people to this search. The Browser Company says Arc stops working on macOS and Windows on December 22, 2026, and points members to Dia. And Dia's pricing page now splits the browser from the AI, with paid plans rolling out to most new Mac users from August 17. So some readers are being moved to Dia, and others are deciding whether to pay for it. Older comparisons may also tell you Dia is Mac-only. That changed when Windows v1.0 shipped on October 6, 2026.

What Dia costs now, and what stays free

Dia has one free plan with no AI and two paid plans with AI, $10 and $100 a month, according to Dia's pricing page. No annual price is listed there.

A few details decide whether this affects you. New users get a 14-day trial of Better Days with no card. Existing users keep what they have for free and are promised at least 30 days' notice by email. Dia on Windows stays as it is for now. Allowances reset each billing cycle without rolling over, and extra usage comes in $20 credit blocks that last up to three months. Dia says a Task measures effort and heavier requests use more of them, so your own habits decide how far an allowance goes.

Where Dia is hard to beat

Dia's strength is work context: it answers from your open tabs and connected tools, inside the browser you already have open. The Dia homepage describes a Morning Brief covering your calendar, inbox and key links, a Synthesis feature that turns material from tools like Slack, Notion and Teams into shareable reports, Decks for slides, and Better Meetings, which opens the meeting page, agenda, notes and related docs with a countdown.

Its list of connections is broad and leans toward company software: Slack, Gmail, Google Calendar and Drive, Notion, Jira, Confluence, GitHub, Linear, Figma, Teams, Outlook, SharePoint and Zoom. In a Microsoft or Atlassian shop, read that list before anything else on this page.

Dia also takes data handling seriously. Its security page says conversations, history, bookmarks and files are encrypted and stored on your device by default, and that AI partners are contractually barred from retaining your data or training on it. Sync is end-to-end encrypted. For companies, Dia for Work adds SAML single sign-on, managed policies and a completed SOC 2 Type II examination.

And for Arc members, Dia has the easiest exit: the same team, and an importer that carries over passwords, bookmarks, extensions and history. If that covers what you need, staying is a sound choice.

Why people look past Dia

Five reasons come up most often when people weigh leaving Dia, and they lead to different answers.

• Arc habits that didn't survive. Each Space becomes a Dia Profile, and Arc's guide to moving says Easels and Boosts don't come over.
• A metered bill. AI isn't part of Dia's $0 tier, and both paid tiers run on Tasks.
• Hardware. On the Mac, Dia asks for macOS 14 or newer and an M1 chip or newer, so Intel Macs are out. Dia's homepage lists macOS and Windows, and no phone app.
• Data routing. Requests go through Dia's servers to its AI partners, and by default some content data is used to improve Dia unless you turn that off in Settings. Shared data is kept for 30 days.
• Wanting things done, not just answered. Dia's pricing page describes tasks that find, summarize, draft or build. Someone who wants a chair ordered or a form filled may want a tool that advertises that directly.

The alternatives, by what you came for

Zen Browser, if you came for the Arc layout

Zen Browser is a free, open-source browser organized around Workspaces, which is the nearest thing here to Arc's Spaces. The Zen homepage also lists Split View, Compact Mode for hiding the tab bar, Glance for jumping between your most-used tabs, and Zen Mods for customizing it, and it asks for donations instead of a subscription. It doesn't advertise an AI assistant there.

The trade-offs are practical. Zen's FAQ says its code is derived from Firefox and that the team has no plans for Android or iOS versions, so a phone setup is out. Coming from Firefox code also means you should check your must-have extensions before committing. Zen syncs through Firefox Sync with a Mozilla account. In return, downloads cover Macs with Apple silicon or Intel, plus Windows and Linux, so it runs on machines Dia doesn't.

Brave, if you want AI with fewer data questions

Brave is a free browser with Leo, an assistant built in that needs no account. The Leo page says Leo doesn't retain or share chats or use them for further model training, and that chat history is saved on your device. It can summarize pages, analyze PDFs and Google Docs, translate, and gather tabs on a topic. You can also connect your own models, local or remote, which matters most if you'd rather keep prompts off someone else's servers altogether.

Brave Shields are on by default for every site. Leo Premium costs $14.99 a month or $149.99 a year, with a 7-day trial, and adds more models and more requests. Brave runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, Android and iOS, the widest spread on this page.

Brave won't replace Dia's work features. The Leo page doesn't describe a Morning Brief or Slack and Jira connections. Its agent feature, AI browsing, is still in early testing, off by default behind a setting in brave://flags.

Comet, if you want an agent that works the web

Comet is Perplexity's browser, pitched as a personal assistant that acts for you. The Comet page gives examples such as buying an office chair, drafting a reply that shares your schedule, and building a basic website, and lists Mac, Windows, iOS and Android versions. Perplexity released the browser for free.

The agent is where the plan matters. Perplexity's plan comparison shows no browser agent queries for free accounts and monthly limits for paying ones. Its pricing page lists Pro at $17 and Max at $167, each per month on annual billing. So the free download gets you the browser, and handing off tasks means subscribing. Annual Pro works out to more per month than Dia's $10 plan, though the two allowances are measured differently.

Comet suits someone whose day happens on websites and whose research starts with a question. If you need answers from Jira or SharePoint, Dia is the one that publishes those connections; the Comet page doesn't list them.

Merlin, if you want the assistant without changing browsers

We make Merlin, and nobody would switch to it as a browser. It reads your Google mail and calendar from a desktop app on your Mac, and your current browser stays where it is. The Daily Digest arrives at 8 a.m. with important email and the day's events, Inbox Watcher flags mail that needs you, and a Meeting Brief lands roughly 10 minutes ahead of each event with attendee backgrounds and past discussions. Press ⌥Space over your browser and the Companion panel knows the page you're on and can read it if it's public; pages behind a sign-in need a selection or a screenshot you approve.

For web errands, Merlin has a browser of its own with a separate profile. Ask in chat and it can order, book, cancel or fill out forms while you watch or steer, and it stops for your approval before paying or submitting something it can't take back. Scheduled routines are the exception: they run unattended, so one you've allowed to post or send does it without asking again.

Several limits rule it out for some readers. It's Mac-only, though Intel Macs are covered as well as M-series ones, and there's nothing for Windows or phones. Setup requires Gmail and Google Calendar, while Outlook isn't among its connections. Dia reaches further into company tools. To stay signed in to sites in its browser, Merlin can import cookies from Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi, Chromium and Firefox, but Safari isn't supported and Dia isn't on the list. And you still need a browser for everyday tabs, so Merlin doesn't answer the Arc layout question at all. Our privacy policy also spells out less than Dia's security page: no sale of personal information, but no stated retention period for email and nothing on AI training.

Merlin's plans start with a free tier of 5,000 monthly credits, which includes the browser, Companion and meeting recording but not transcription. The Pro plan costs $29 monthly or $278 yearly for 25,000 credits. Each job is charged by what it actually costs, so a long browser errand uses more credits than a quick answer and there's no fixed number of tasks per plan. Paid plans come without a trial. For how to think about handing this kind of work over, see our guide to an AI chief of staff.

Dia vs. Zen vs. Brave vs. Comet vs. Merlin

This table uses each company's published prices in US dollars, for one person.

Leaving Arc before December 22

Arc members should act before December 22, 2026, whichever browser they pick, because Arc says accounts are deactivated that day, personal data is deleted within 30 days, and it can't retrieve your data afterward.

1. Try Dia's importer first, even if you plan to leave. Arc's guide says importing copies your data and doesn't change anything in Arc, so it costs you little to look. Better Browser is free.
2. Write down what won't move. Easels, Boosts, saved payment methods and autofill data stay behind, per the same guide, so save anything you'd miss.
3. Keep Arc installed until the import finishes. The import is a one-time copy, so later Arc changes won't follow you.
4. Export before the cutoff if you're going elsewhere. Arc tells members who want to keep their data to export it or import it into Dia before December 22.
5. Mobile users have an earlier date. Arc says AI features on iOS and Android, including Browse for Me, turn off on November 23, 2026.

How to choose

• You miss Spaces and a tidy sidebar, and you don't want AI. Try Dia's free plan first, then Zen Browser if Profiles don't feel like Spaces.
• You're on an Intel Mac or Linux. Dia doesn't list either. Zen covers both, Brave lists Linux, and Merlin has an Intel Mac download.
• Prompts shouldn't leave your machine. Brave with a local model is the only option here that advertises this.
• You want errands done on websites. Comet on a paid plan, or Merlin on a Mac, which is set to stop for your approval before paying.
• Your day runs on Microsoft 365 or Atlassian tools. Stay with Dia, which publishes connections for Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, Jira and Confluence.
• You like your current browser and your problem is email and meetings. Merlin, if you're on Gmail and a Mac. Meeting notes have their own guide: seven note takers side by side.