Sign up here to receive our free Work Tech newsletter in your inbox.
Tab overload is a persistent scourge of the modern workday, draining workers’ time, mental energy (not to mention their computer functioning). In a study of Fortune 500 teams published in Harvard Business Review, the average worker switched between web browser tabs and applications around 1,200 times per day, with the two-second buffer to refocus between each switch adding up to nearly four hours per week. Research out of Carnegie Mellon, meanwhile, highlighted one all-too-relatable barrier for those looking to declutter their browsers: the “black-hole effect,” or the fear that if someone closes a tab, even one with valuable information, they won’t remember to return to the site later on.
In recent years, a raft of tools have emerged to help workers streamline their internet-browsing experience by eliminating those digital black holes, providing a space to capture and organize tabs. We evaluated nine of these tools—Workona, Tabs Outliner, Partizion, Tab Keeper, Tab Manager Plus, OneTab, Tabli, Tab Brew, and Skeema—for organization, features, ease of use, visual appeal, and price. Our top pick is Skeema, developed by the authors of the aforementioned Carnegie Mellon paper to address points of friction they identified in their research, followed by Workona. Both are comprehensive tab-management systems and helpful productivity aids; while Skeema was our clear winner, the differences between the two in many cases are small enough to come down to personal preference, and either is an excellent option.
Both of our picks are free for users, and Workona also has a paid upgrade option. (See the Pricing Deep Dive section below for more on the differences between the tiers.) Both are also compatible with Google Chrome, while Workona also works on Firefox.
Skeema
PROS
- Highly action-oriented interface turns a mess of tabs into a streamlined to-do list.
- Clipping tool allows users to save small chunks of a page without saving the whole tab.
- Clean, soothing design.
CONS
- The process for closing tabs from a master list is slightly more involved than with our other top pick.
Workona
PROS
- Quick one-click feature for closing tabs from a master list.
- Easy shareability allows users to send entire tab lists via email or Slack.
- Ability to group workspaces into sections for an additional layer of organization.
CONS
- Collaborative workspaces only available for paid plans.
- The interface, while easy to navigate, is less visually appealing than our other pick’s.
Read the full review at charterworks.com.