YalqenA horizontal tab bar shrinks every tab as you open more, until you are left with a row of favicons. A vertical tab list gives each tab a full line, so titles stay readable with a dozen localhost tabs, docs and dashboards open at once. Until recently few Mac browsers offered it. Now most of them do, with different defaults and different trade-offs.
Mac browsers with vertical tabs
| Browser | Engine | Vertical tabs | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yalqen | Chromium | Default layout | Pinned tabs, a foldable panel and a command bar that jumps to tabs. No tab groups or Spaces yet. |
| Arc | Chromium | Default layout | Spaces and split view. Maintenance only since May 2025, with no new features. |
| Zen | Firefox | Default layout | Workspaces and split view. Open source. |
| Orion | WebKit | Yes, with tree-style tabs | Blocking on by default and no browsing analytics. |
| Firefox | Gecko | Optional, since version 136 | Tab groups since version 137. |
| Brave | Chromium | Optional, off by default | Available since version 1.52. |
| Chrome | Chromium | Optional, rolled out in 2026 | Switched on per window from the tab context menu. |
| Dia | Chromium | Optional sidebar | Built around an AI assistant. |
| Safari | WebKit | No | Tab groups and pinned tabs, but a horizontal tab bar. |
Chrome, Firefox, Brave and Dia treat vertical tabs as a setting you switch on. In Yalqen, Arc, Zen and Orion the side panel is how the browser is built.
How vertical tabs work in Yalqen
- The tab list is the default layout. Pinned tabs sit at the top, and the open tabs follow in a list.
- The panel folds away. ⌘S collapses or expands it, ⇧⌘U shows or hides the sidebar and ⇧⌘B shows or hides the top bar.
- Shortcuts follow the list. ⌘1 to ⌘8 select tabs in the order shown, and ⌘9 selects the last one.
- The command bar finds tabs. Press ⌘L and type to jump to an open tab or a page from your history, without scanning the list.
What Yalqen does not have yet
- Tab groups, which Firefox and Safari have.
- Spaces and split view, which Arc and Zen have. Both are on the roadmap as ideas under consideration.
- Tree-style tabs, which Orion has.
- macOS 13 or later on Apple silicon is the only supported platform.
Compare in detail
- An open-source Arc alternative for Mac
- Yalqen vs Zen, Yalqen vs Orion, Yalqen vs Firefox
- Yalqen vs Chrome, Yalqen vs Brave, Yalqen vs Dia
Try it
- Install Yalqen with Homebrew or the disk image.
- Open a few tabs, pin the ones you always need and press ⌘S to fold the panel.
- See every tab shortcut on the keyboard shortcuts page.