The Best New Tab Extensions in 2026 (and When to Use Each)

Your new tab is the most-visited screen in your browser — most people hit it fifty to a hundred times a day. Replacing the default blank page is one of the highest-leverage changes you can make to how your browser feels. Here's an honest rundown of the main options, and which kind of person each one actually fits.

Momentum — the calm, beautiful dashboard

Momentum turns your new tab into a daily ritual: a full-bleed photo backdrop, a greeting, one "main focus" for today, and a simple to-do list. It doesn't try to organize your work — it tries to make the moment you open a tab feel calmer.

Pick Momentum if you want your new tab to feel serene more than structured, and a single daily focus prompt is the habit you're after. Richer features (recurring to-dos, integrations, more themes) sit behind a Momentum Plus subscription.

Toby — visual tab collections

Toby replaces your new tab with a grid of saved tab collections — drag a tab in, reopen it later, share a collection with your team. It's simple, visual, and has a big loyal following, especially for people managing many reference links.

Pick Toby if the core job is filing and reopening groups of links, especially with a team.

Workona — cloud-synced browser workspaces

Workona popularized the "browser workspace" idea: spaces that hold tabs, docs and tasks, auto-saved and synced to the cloud. It's built for teams and for people who work across multiple machines.

Pick Workona if your whole workflow lives in the browser and needs to follow you across devices, or your team collaborates in shared spaces.

CoolDesk — project workspaces with a launcher built in

CoolDesk takes a different angle: the new tab isn't just a dashboard or a link collection, it's a project. Tabs, desktop apps, links and notes get grouped per project, and a spotlight search (Alt+K) reaches across all of it — open tabs, browser history, bookmarks, notes and running desktop apps — not just what you've deliberately saved. Everything is free, local-first, and works the same on Windows and macOS.

Pick CoolDesk if you're juggling several projects at once and want the whole context — not just tabs — to come back together with one keystroke, or you want a launcher and a new tab to be the same tool instead of two separate ones.

Which one is actually right for you?

• Want the prettiest new tab and a light daily habit? Momentum.
• Managing lots of saved links, possibly with a team? Toby.
• Need cloud-synced browser workspaces across devices? Workona.
• Juggling multiple active projects — tabs, apps, notes — and want one search bar for all of it? CoolDesk.

None of these are mutually exclusive with your browser's built-in bookmarks or history — they're just better front doors. Pick the one whose job matches the problem you actually have, not the one with the prettiest screenshot.