The Browser Company is officially sunsetting its once-celebrated Arc browser, giving users two months to migrate to its AI-focused replacement, Dia. Arc will stop working on December 22, 2026, the company announced Thursday, October 22.
The shutdown will roll out in stages. As of today, new Arc accounts can no longer be created.
On November 23, AI features, including Browse for Me, will be disabled on iOS and Android, and users will no longer be able to sign in or sync tabs. On December 22, Arc will become inaccessible on macOS and Windows, Arc accounts will be deactivated, and Arc Search for Android will be removed from Google Play.
The company stated the decision is driven by a need to focus engineering and security resources on Dia. It noted: "Dia was built from the ground up to meet today's security standards, so that's where our engineering and security teams will focus moving forward." Maintaining two different browsers became difficult to justify, particularly regarding security.
The Browser Company had ceased developing new Arc features a year ago but continued maintenance. Arc introduced innovations such as vertical tabs, Spaces, and a split-view design - features that were eventually adopted by competing browsers.
The Zen browser, based on Mozilla's Gecko engine, is frequently recommended as an alternative. Dia, available for free on Apple Silicon Macs and Windows 11 PCs, imports passwords, bookmarks, extensions, history, Spaces, folders, and tab groups during sign-up.
The company claims its new browser exceeds Arc in stability, speed, and security, with AI features being optional. The closure follows a year of consolidation in the browser market.
OpenAI closed its AI-focused Atlas browser earlier this year in favour of ChatGPT integration. Atlassian purchased The Browser Company for $610 million last year.