Arc Search alternative that spans your desktop.

If you want AI outside the browser, Jarvis (getjarvis.eu) is a desktop AI assistant that follows you across apps.

How we put this list together: Jarvis is our product — this site is getjarvis.eu — so treat the #1 spot as an editorial opinion with an obvious interest, and check the sourced facts yourself. The Browser Company confirmed in May 2025 that it halted active development on Arc (Arc Search's desktop counterpart) to focus entirely on Dia, and was then acquired by Atlassian in a deal reported at $610M that closed October 21, 2025 — per AlternativeTo, TechCrunch, and 9to5Mac coverage. Neither arc.net/search nor diabrowser.com publishes a pricing page as of July 2026; Dia's widely reported $20/month Pro price comes from TechCrunch's and 9to5Mac's coverage of its August 2025 launch, not a vendor pricing URL, and is flagged as such below rather than presented as vendor-confirmed. Perplexity's and Sider's own pricing pages (perplexity.ai/pricing, sider.ai/pricing) returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch, so their tiers are drawn from third-party 2026 pricing summaries and marked unconfirmed rather than quoted as exact numbers. Brave's Leo pricing is confirmed directly on brave.com/leo/, which states a free tier and a paid Premium tier without publishing an exact price. This page tracks different intent than our existing /compare/jarvis-vs-arc-search head-to-head page — this is a 'what else is out there' roundup for people who've noticed Arc's development freeze, not a 1-v-1 lookup.

1. Jarvis — An on-demand, screen-aware desktop assistant. Press Cmd+/ on macOS or Ctrl+/ on Windows and a floating bar screenshots the active window, answers questions about it, and acts in your apps through 30+ OAuth connectors (Gmail, Slack, Notion, Linear, GitHub, Figma, Microsoft 365). Inference runs on cloud frontier models (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) routed through Jarvis's GDPR-aligned backend, with persistent memory across sessions — there is no browser involved at all, mobile or desktop. Pricing: Free: $0 — 40 requests/week. Pro: $16/month ($144/year billed annually). Unlimited: $32/month. Checked July 2026. Platforms: macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10+, Linux. Known limitation: Cloud-only inference — Jarvis needs an internet connection and has no offline mode, and because it isn't a browser it has no address bar, tab sync, or page-rendering of its own — it reads whatever is already on screen instead. Pick Jarvis if: you want one shortcut that makes AI aware of every desktop app — not just web pages — with real app connectors and a genuine free tier. 2. Arc Search (The Browser Company / Atlassian) — Mobile-first AI browser app with a "Browse for Me" feature that fetches and synthesizes multiple web pages into one ad-free summary page; syncs with the desktop Arc browser. Pricing: Free (no pricing tier found on the app or arc.net/search as of July 2026). Platforms: iOS, Android; syncs to desktop Arc (Mac, Windows) via Arc Sync. Known limitation: The Browser Company confirmed it halted active Arc development in May 2025 to focus fully on Dia; Arc (including Arc Search's desktop counterpart) now receives security patches only, no new features, and has no announced sunset date. Pick Arc Search (The Browser Company / Atlassian) if: you already live in the Arc ecosystem and only need quick mobile page summarization, not ongoing feature development. 3. Dia (The Browser Company, an Atlassian company) — Chromium-based desktop browser with an AI chat sidebar that understands open tabs, drafts writing, and (per vendor site) generates a "Morning Brief" and cross-app synthesis reports; positioned as Arc's successor. Pricing: Free tier plus a Pro plan; diabrowser.com does not publish a pricing page — the $20/month Pro price is reported consistently by TechCrunch, 9to5Mac, and AlternativeTo (August 2025 launch) but is not independently confirmed on a vendor pricing URL. Platforms: macOS 14+ on Apple Silicon (M1 or later) only, per diabrowser.com. Known limitation: Mac-only (no Windows/Linux) as stated on diabrowser.com; this is the team The Browser Company redirected all Arc engineering resources into. Pick Dia (The Browser Company, an Atlassian company) if: you're on a modern Mac and want the most actively developed successor to Arc, shipping weekly. 4. Perplexity — AI answer engine that returns cited, up-to-date web results, with a dedicated Comet browser for in-browser research. Pricing: $20/month, or $17/month billed annually. Platforms: Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, plus the Comet browser. Known limitation: Positioned around search/research answers with citations, not general cross-app assistance or desktop automation. Pick Perplexity if: your main need is cited, research-grade web answers rather than acting across your own apps. 5. Sider — Browser-sidebar AI assistant (Chrome/Edge extension) offering page summarization, chat, and multi-model access without leaving the current tab. Pricing: Free plan plus paid tiers; third-party sources disagree on exact numbers (some list tiers from roughly $4–$17/month, others cite a $20/mo or $120/yr Pro plan). sider.ai/pricing returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch, so exact current prices could not be verified for this page. Platforms: Chrome and Edge browser extension; mobile apps referenced in third-party reviews but not vendor-confirmed here. Known limitation: Extension-based and scoped to browser tabs/pages, not a full cross-application desktop assistant. Pick Sider if: you want a lightweight sidebar for summarizing and chatting about whatever's in your browser tab, and already have a preferred browser. 6. Brave (with Leo AI) — Privacy-focused browser with Leo, a built-in AI assistant for summarizing pages, generating content, translating, and analyzing text in-tab. Pricing: Free tier includes access to models from Mixtral, Anthropic Claude, and Meta Llama, per brave.com/leo/; a Premium tier unlocks more models and higher usage limits (exact price not stated on the vendor page). Platforms: Desktop: macOS, Windows, Linux. Mobile: Android, iOS. Known limitation: No account required for free use, but full model selection and higher limits are gated behind Premium; scoped to in-browser tasks rather than cross-app desktop actions. Pick Brave (with Leo AI) if: privacy is the top priority and you want a free, no-signup AI assistant baked into an already-popular browser.

Why people switch: Arc's own development is frozen; Jarvis reads any app on your desktop, not just web pages; Connectors that take action, not just read; It never claims to run offline.

Pick a competitor instead if: You already live in the Arc ecosystem — If you just need quick mobile page summarization and already sync with desktop Arc, Arc Search still does that one job — just know it's on a features freeze, not active development. You're on a modern Mac and want Arc's actual successor — Dia is where The Browser Company redirected all its Arc engineering effort. It's Mac-only (Apple Silicon, macOS 14+) but it's the actively developed chat-sidebar browser, shipping weekly. You want cited, research-grade web answers — Perplexity is purpose-built for sourced, up-to-date answers plus a dedicated Comet browser for research. Jarvis's screenshot-and-act workflow is aimed at your own screen and apps, not open web research. You want a lightweight sidebar in your existing browser — Sider and Brave's Leo both live inside the browser you already use — Sider as a Chrome/Edge extension, Leo built into Brave itself — for page summarization and chat without leaving the tab.

What is the best Arc Search alternative in 2026? Jarvis for on-demand screen-aware help across every desktop app, not just the browser; Dia if you want Arc's actual successor on a modern Mac; Perplexity for cited web research; Sider or Brave's Leo if you want a lightweight in-browser sidebar.

Is Arc Search still being developed? No new features. The Browser Company confirmed in May 2025 that it halted active development on Arc, including Arc Search's desktop counterpart, to focus entirely on Dia. Arc now receives security patches only, and The Browser Company was acquired by Atlassian in a deal that closed October 21, 2025.

Is there a free Arc Search alternative? Yes. Jarvis has a free plan (40 requests/week), Arc Search itself is free with no paid tier found on its vendor page, Dia has a free tier, and Brave's Leo is free with no account required. Perplexity's and Sider's free-tier limits could not be independently confirmed because their pricing pages returned HTTP 403 to automated fetch.

Does Jarvis browse and summarize the web like Arc Search? Jarvis can read whatever web page is open in front of you and summarize or act on it, but it isn't a browser — it's a desktop floating bar that reads any app via Cmd+/ (Ctrl+/ on Windows), not a browsing product with its own address bar or tab sync.

Why did The Browser Company move from Arc to Dia? Per its own May 2025 announcement, The Browser Company redirected its engineering resources from Arc to Dia, a Chromium-based AI browser it positions as Arc's successor. Arc Search's desktop counterpart is now maintenance-only. Dia is Mac-only (Apple Silicon, macOS 14+) as of July 2026.

Which of these alternatives work on Windows? Jarvis runs on Windows 10+ (plus macOS Apple Silicon and Intel, and Linux). Perplexity and Brave both ship native Windows apps. Dia is Mac-only. Arc Search is a mobile app that syncs to desktop Arc on Mac and Windows. Sider is a Chrome/Edge extension, so it works on any OS running those browsers.

Alternatives · Arc Search alternatives · Last updated July 28, 2026