The Arc Browser may soon be sold or fully open-sourced
The Browser Company announced Tuesday that it is exploring options to sell or open-source its Arc Browser. This comes as the company shifts its focus and resources toward the development of Dia, a new AI-powered browser.
According to the company CEO, Josh Miller, the Arc Browser ran into a “novelty tax” problem due to its complexity and the number of new features users had to learn. He stated, “For most people, Arc was simply too different, with too many new things to learn, for too little reward […] On top of that, Arc lacked cohesion in both its core features and core values. It was experimental, that was part of its charm, but also its complexity.”
The Browser Company has stopped developing the Arc app and adding features to it, but continues to provide bug fixes and security updates. News of Dia was first released in December 2024. At that time, the company conceded that Arc was too intricate for many users.
The company is hesitant to open-source Arc because it is built on the Arc Development Kit (ADK), an internal SDK that is also core to the new Dia browser. Miller explained, “While we’d love to open-source Arc someday, we can’t do that meaningfully without also open-sourcing ADK. And ADK is still core to our company’s value. That doesn’t mean it’ll never happen.”
Many Arc Browser users have expressed interest in the company open-sourcing the project. The Dia browser is currently in alpha testing, with plans to make it available for testing to Arc members, though a wider release date has not been announced.