A native macOS browser with a sidebar instead of a tab strip.
Free and open-source, built to replace Arc one to one.
Download for macOS · crabrowser.app · What's new · Help
Arc ends on 22 December 2026. Cra keeps the parts of it worth keeping: spaces, pinned tabs that remember where they started, favorites, a command bar that searches everything, Today tabs that archive themselves, split view, Little Windows and Arc's keyboard shortcuts. Import your Arc sidebar in one go and carry on where you left off.
The app is Swift (AppKit and SwiftUI) and the engine is Chromium, through the Chromium Embedded Framework, so sites and Chrome extensions work as they do in Chrome.
Install
Open the DMG and drag Cra to Applications.
It's signed and notarized by Apple, and keeps itself up to date. Needs Apple silicon.
Coming from Arc
| Arc feature | Cra |
|---|---|
| Spaces | ✅ |
| Pinned tabs | ✅ |
| Today tabs and auto-archive | ✅ |
| Favorites | ✅ |
| Folders | ✅ |
| Command bar | ✅ |
| Little Arc | ✅ |
| Split View | ✅ |
| Picture in Picture | ✅ |
| Developer Mode | ✅ |
| Library | ✅ |
| Air Traffic Control | ✅ |
| Live folders | ✅ |
| Profiles | ✅ |
| Private windows | ✅ |
| Arc's keyboard shortcuts | ✅ |
| Import from Arc | ✅ |
| Easels | Not yet |
| Boosts | Not yet |
| Peek | ✅ |
| Notes | Not yet |
| Arc Max | No, Cra has no built-in AI |
The roadmap lists what's next.
Import
On first launch, or later from Cra ▸ Import from Arc or Dia…, Cra brings over:
- Arc: spaces, pinned tabs, folders, favorites and the archive, plus passwords and sign-ins.
- Dia, Chrome, Brave, Edge, Opera, Vivaldi, Chromium, Helium: tabs, bookmarks, history, passwords, sign-ins and extensions.
- Zen and Firefox: open tabs, bookmarks and history, and Zen's spaces, Essentials and pinned tabs.
- Safari: whatever Safari exports itself (File ▸ Export Browsing Data): bookmarks, history and passwords.
Spaces with the same name merge, tabs that are already there are skipped, and every step can be skipped.
Keyboard
Cra uses Arc's defaults, and every one can be changed in Settings ▸ Shortcuts. The ones you'll use most:
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| ⌘ T | New tab (command bar) |
| ⌘ L | Edit the URL |
| ⌘ W | Close tab |
| ⇧ ⌘ T | Restore closed tab |
| ⌘ D | Pin or unpin tab |
| ⌘ S | Show or hide the sidebar |
| ⌃ 1…9 | Go to space |
| ⌘ 1…9 | Go to tab |
| ⌃ Tab | Switch to recent tab |
| ⌃ ⇧ = | Split view |
| ⌥ ⌘ N | New Little Window |
| ⇧ ⌘ N | New incognito window |
| ⇧ ⌘ C | Copy URL |
| ⇧ ⌘ K | Clear Today |
| ⌘ Y | History and archive |
| ⌃ D | Developer Mode |
| ⌥ ⌘ I | DevTools |
Pages get the first chance at shortcuts Cra doesn't reserve, like in Chrome, so ⌘F in Google Docs works. The full list is on the site.
Privacy and security
Cra has no account and no server, and the app collects no analytics. Spaces, tabs and the
archive are plain JSON in ~/Library/Application Support/Cra. A built-in blocker stops
requests to more than 22,000 ad and tracker domains.
Pages run in Chromium's sandbox with site isolation, passwords and cookies are encrypted with a key in your Keychain, and new Chromium releases are checked daily and shipped as signed updates. crabrowser.app/security says what is and isn't covered. To report a vulnerability, see SECURITY.md.
Support Cra
Cra is free and open source and has no investors or ads. If it earns a place on your Mac, sponsoring it pays for the Chromium updates, the Apple signing and the time it takes to keep a browser going. It unlocks nothing in the app, and every feature stays free for everyone.
Build from source
scripts/build.sh # fetches CEF on first run, builds build/Cra.app
scripts/run.sh # build if needed, then open
scripts/dev.sh # dev loop: debug CraDev.app, rebuilds + relaunches on save
Needs Xcode 16+ and CMake (brew install cmake). CONTRIBUTING.md
covers sending a change, and docs/development.md covers the code
layout, scripting hooks and test instances.
Licence
MIT, see LICENSE. Arc is a trademark of The Browser Company. Cra is an independent project and is not affiliated with it.