Arc vs Dia

Arc

• People who keep work and personal browsing in one window
• Chrome users who want their extensions in a different interface
• Side-by-side reading and research with Split View

Dia

• Mac users whose work is spread across Slack, Notion, Google Workspace and Teams
• People who want a daily brief and meeting prep prepared for them
• Arc users moving to the company's newer browser

Arc

• The Browser Company says Arc receives Chromium updates only and directs people to Dia for active security patches.
• There is no Linux version. Arc needs macOS 13.0 or later, or Windows 10 19H1 or higher.
• Arc asks people to create an account, which is used to keep data and sync it across devices.
• The Ask ChatGPT feature of Arc Max requires a ChatGPT account signed in on the current Arc profile.

Dia

• The free Better Browser plan has no AI features; chat needs Better Answers at $20 per month, and the Morning Brief and reports need Better Days at $100.
• Paid usage is metered in Tasks. When the monthly allowance runs out, AI features pause unless extra usage is bought in $20 credit blocks.
• Dia is available for macOS only; the site lists Windows as coming soon.
• Paid plans began rolling out to new Mac users on August 17. Existing users keep free access until they get at least 30 days' notice.

Arc

Spaces and Profiles

Spaces keep work, study and hobbies apart inside a single window, and Profiles sit alongside them so each area of browsing can be organized on its own.

Split View and themes

Split View places up to three tabs side by side, picture-in-picture keeps video and meetings visible, and themes change the color of the browser.

Arc Max AI features

Opt-in AI features preview a link when hovering with Shift held, send a question to ChatGPT from the Command Bar, and give pinned tabs and downloads shorter, tidier names.

Built-in integrations

Integrations show the day's meetings from Google Calendar, unread Gmail, recent Notion pages and GitHub pull requests on hover, and control Spotify from a mini player.

Chrome extensions and import

Arc supports the extensions Chrome supports and imports Chrome data on setup. Chromium's Google account sync, usage metrics and telemetry to Google are disabled.

Arc Search on mobile

The mobile browser blocks ads, trackers and cookie banners, answers questions with Browse for Me, and syncs tabs across Mac, Windows and iOS through Arc Sync.

Dia

Chat with context from tabs and tools

On paid plans, a question asked on any page is answered using open tabs and connected tools such as Slack, Notion, Google Workspace and Microsoft Teams.

Morning Brief

A daily brief lays out the calendar, inbox and key links before the workday starts. It is part of the Better Days plan.

Reports, decks and recaps

Dia gathers context scattered across tools into a shareable report or a slide deck with headers and layout. These are part of the Better Days plan.

Meeting prep

Before a call, Dia opens the meeting page, agenda, notes and related documents and shows a countdown to the start time.

Profiles, tab groups and split view

Profiles keep work, freelance and personal tabs, logins and AI separate. Related tabs are grouped under descriptive names, and split view layouts are remembered.

Privacy controls

Ad and tracker blocking are built in, memory and chat personalization can be switched off, and synced data is end-to-end encrypted. Dia for Work adds SSO and admin tools.

Arc

• Free$0

  The full browser on Mac and Windows, the opt-in Arc Max AI features and the Arc Search mobile app.

Dia

• Better Browser$0

  The browser with no AI features: profiles and tab groups, split view, picture-in-picture video, ad and tracking blocking and cross-device sync.

• Better Answers$20

  per month

  Adds chat on any page with context from tabs and connected tools, within a monthly usage allowance measured in Tasks.

• Better Days$100

  per month

  6x the usage of Better Answers, plus the daily Morning Brief, meeting prep and follow-up, and generated reports, decks and recaps.