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Best Aesthetic New Tab Extensions in 2026: An Honest Shortlist

, maker of BirdTabX
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The best aesthetic new tab extension for nature lovers in 2026 is BirdTab: one bird photograph, its call, and nothing else unless you ask for it. We compared six well-known aesthetic new tab extensions on ratings, upkeep, price and privacy. Bonjourr is the best minimalist all-rounder, Momentum the best for productivity, and Unsplash Instant the best for pure photography.

We make BirdTab. We ranked it first for anyone who wants nature on screen and as little else as possible; for other tastes, the others below are better, and we say which.

Want the whole browser to look good? Our five-minute guide →

Key takeaways

  1. 1BirdTab is the pick for nature: a new high-resolution bird photograph and its recorded call on every tab, with a 5.0 rating from 138 ratings. It is the only extension here with real nature sound included.
  2. 2Bonjourr is the best minimalist all-rounder: free, open source, no data collected, a 4.9 rating from 24,400 ratings and 43 languages. Its photographs are a hand-picked Unsplash collection.
  3. 3Momentum is the best for productivity, with a to-do list, focus mode and weather, and has 2 million users. Many of its features, including its soundscapes, are in Momentum Plus at $39.95 a year.
  4. 4Earth View from Google Earth still has the most striking landscapes, with 2,500 satellite images, but it has not been updated since July 2024. Unsplash Instant, rebuilt in 2026, is the purist’s choice for photography.
  5. 5Infinity New Tab is a speed-dial dashboard first. Its listing says it may add partner shortcuts such as eBay by default, which is worth knowing if you want a clean page.

What an aesthetic new tab extension actually is (and what it is not)

An aesthetic new tab extension replaces the page Chrome shows when you open a tab, Google’s logo and a grid of shortcuts, with something chosen for how it looks. Usually that is a full-screen photograph, with a clock, a greeting or a search box laid over it in careful type.

It is not a browser theme. A Chrome theme only changes the colours of the tabs and toolbar; it cannot put a photograph or a clock on the new tab. It is also not a different browser. Arc, Zen and Opera GX are browsers designed to look good, and you can read about them in our guide to aesthetic browsers. A new tab extension is the quickest way to make the browser you already use feel calmer.

The extensions in this category split by what they put first. Photo-first pages, such as BirdTab, Earth View and Unsplash Instant, keep the picture and hide nearly everything else. Dashboards, such as Momentum and Infinity, use the picture as a background for to-do lists, weather and shortcuts. Bonjourr sits between the two.

Because a new tab extension runs every time you open a tab, three things matter beyond looks: whether it is still maintained, what it costs to get the features you want, and what data it sees. We compared all three.

How we ranked these aesthetic new tab extensions

We chose the best-known aesthetic new tab extensions on the Chrome Web Store and the extensions that ranking articles recommend, then compared them on five things that can be checked:

  1. 1. Rating and number of ratings

    The Chrome Web Store average and how many people rated it.

  2. 2. Last updated

    The latest version’s date. Older than a year counts against it.

  3. 3. What the free version includes

    And the price of anything locked behind a paid plan.

  4. 4. Data and account

    What the listing says it collects, and whether you must sign in.

  5. 5. What is on screen

    Photo source, sound, and how much can be hidden.

Figures were read on 15 October 2026. Sources are linked under each product.

The best aesthetic new tab extensions in 2026

Six aesthetic new tab extensions, each the best at something. Pick the one whose “best for” matches what you want your new tab to feel like.

1. BirdTab, best for nature photography with real sound

  • Free
  • 5.0 rating (138)
  • Featured
  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Bird calls
  • Works offline

BirdTab puts a high-resolution photograph of a bird on every new tab, with its name and a recording of its call. The photographs come from iNaturalist, Wikimedia Commons and free photo libraries, each credited to its photographer. You can choose the birds of your own country, from more than 250 countries and regions, or the World’s 500 most common birds.

Everything around the photograph is optional. One click hides the bird’s details, leaving only the picture. A search box, shortcuts, a clock and a countdown timer can be turned on, and sound has a volume control and quiet hours. It works offline once your birds have loaded.

It is the only extension in this list with real nature sound included: each bird’s own song or call, from Xeno-canto and Wikimedia Commons. It needs no account, shows no ads and its listing says it collects no personal data.

BirdTab has 2,000 users, a 5.0 average from 138 ratings and the Featured badge, with version 2.1.1 released on 15 October 2026. It is the smallest extension here, and the only one in this list built around wildlife.

Best suited for

Nature lovers and birders who want a calm, beautiful page and a small moment of discovery each time. Less suited to anyone who wants to-do lists and widgets on the new tab.

Sources: BirdTab on the Chrome Web Store

Add BirdTab to Chrome

2. Bonjourr, best for a minimalist, open-source all-rounder

  • Free
  • 4.9 rating (24.4K)
  • Featured
  • 400,000 users
  • Open source (GPL-3.0)
  • 43 languages

Bonjourr is a minimalist new tab page made by two independent developers in France, Victor Azevedo and Tahoe Beetschen. Its backgrounds are 4K photographs and videos from a hand-curated Unsplash collection that changes with the time of day, and its site says they are “made by humans and do not use generative AI”.

It has a little of everything, all optional: quick links, a search bar for any engine, Markdown notes and a to-do list, a Pomodoro timer, weather, quotes, an analogue or digital clock, custom fonts and CSS, and a dark mode. It is translated into 43 languages.

It is free and funded by donations, open source under the GPL-3.0, and its listing says it “collects no data, requires no account or sign-in”. It runs on Chrome, Firefox and Edge, online, or self-hosted with Docker.

With 400,000 users and a 4.9 average from 24,400 ratings, it is the most highly rated extension here by a wide margin. It was among Google Chrome’s Favorites of 2023.

Best suited for

Anyone who wants a beautiful, private new tab with a few useful widgets and full control over the design. The best default choice if you are not specifically after nature.

Sources: Bonjourr on the Chrome Web Store, bonjourr.fr

3. Momentum, best for productivity with a beautiful background

  • Free + Plus $39.95/yr
  • 4.2 rating (13.7K)
  • Featured
  • 2,000,000 users

Momentum is the best-known new tab dashboard, with 2 million users on the Chrome Web Store. Each day brings a background photograph from Momentum’s own curated collection, a mantra and a quote.

The free version includes the daily photo, mantra and quote, focus mode, to-do lists, website shortcuts, local weather and search. Momentum Plus, at $39.95 a year, adds unlimited focus mode, a vision board, Tab Stash, notes and AI features, soundscapes, integrations with ClickUp, Todoist and Asana, habit metrics, countdowns and world clocks.

It runs on Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari. Its listing discloses that it handles personally identifiable and authentication information, since it has accounts, and says “we don’t share or sell your data”.

Its 4.2 average from 13,700 ratings is the lowest here, though from a very large user base. Version 2.27.8 was released on 6 October 2026.

Best suited for

People who want their new tab to be a planning tool, with tasks and focus in view all day. Less suited to anyone who wants a quiet page with nothing to do.

Sources: Momentum on the Chrome Web Store, Momentum Plus pricing

4. Earth View from Google Earth, best for landscapes from space

  • Free
  • 4.4 rating (5.2K)
  • Featured
  • 600,000 users
  • Updated Jul 2024

Earth View, made by Google, shows a Google Earth landscape, seen from above, on every new tab. Version 3 added more than 1,000 new views, for 2,500 images in all, and a colour map to browse them.

There are no widgets to configure, which is part of the appeal: it is a single photograph and its location. It is free and comes from Google.

It has 600,000 users and a 4.4 average from 5,200 ratings. Its last update, version 3.1.1, was on 3 July 2024, and its old website now redirects to the store listing, which suggests it is no longer being developed. It is still listed, but nothing new is being added.

Best suited for

People who love maps and landscapes and want the simplest possible page. If you want something still being developed, choose Bonjourr or BirdTab.

Sources: Earth View on the Chrome Web Store

5. Unsplash Instant, best for pure photography

  • Free
  • 4.5 rating (480)
  • 60,000 users
  • Rebuilt 2026

Unsplash Instant, from Unsplash itself, shows a photograph from the Unsplash library on every new tab. Version 4.0 rebuilt it from the ground up, and 4.0.1 was released in April 2026.

It is made for people who care about the photograph: you can download the image, see the photographer and camera details, add a slow Ken Burns motion, hide the interface completely and choose whether the photo changes every tab, every hour or every day. An optional clock and keyboard shortcuts are all it adds.

It has 60,000 users and a 4.5 average from 480 ratings. Its listing discloses that it collects user activity. Beware of look-alikes: there are unofficial extensions with similar names.

Best suited for

Photographers and anyone who wants a new photograph of anything, not only nature, on every tab. Less suited to those who want widgets.

Sources: Unsplash Instant on the Chrome Web Store

6. Infinity New Tab, best for a speed-dial dashboard

  • 4.5 rating (11.8K)
  • 400,000 users
  • Updated Aug 2026
  • Partner shortcuts

Infinity New Tab is a speed-dial page: a grid of website icons, with 200 or more to choose from, over a background from its set of 365 HD wallpapers or your own. It adds weather, a to-do list, a notepad, Gmail notifications, a choice of search engine and history and extension management, and can sync across devices if you sign in with Google, Facebook or other accounts.

Its listing discloses that partner shortcuts, such as eBay, may be included by default, and that it earns from them as an affiliate. That is fair to know, and easy to remove, but it is why Infinity ranks below the photo-first pages for a clean look.

The main listing has 400,000 users and a 4.5 average from 11,800 ratings, last updated in August 2026. A separate “Infinity New Tab (Pro)” listing has 300,000 users and a 4.7 average.

Best suited for

People who navigate mostly by shortcuts and want many of them on one page. Less suited to anyone after a calm, uncluttered screen.

Sources: Infinity New Tab on the Chrome Web Store

Side-by-side comparison

The criteria from our method, side by side. Figures are from each Chrome Web Store listing and the makers’ own sites, read on 15 October 2026.

aesthetic new tab extensions compared
ExtensionRating (ratings)UsersLast updatedPricePhotosSoundAccount / data
BirdTab5.0 (138)2,000Oct 2026FreeWild birdsBird callsNo account, no data
Bonjourr4.9 (24.4K)400,000Jul 2026FreeUnsplash, curatedNoneNo account, no data
Momentum4.2 (13.7K)2,000,000Oct 2026Free; Plus $39.95/yrOwn collectionPlus onlyAccount
Earth View4.4 (5.2K)600,000Jul 2024FreeSatelliteNoneNo account
Unsplash Instant4.5 (480)60,000Apr 2026FreeUnsplashNoneCollects user activity
Infinity New Tab4.5 (11.8K)400,000Aug 2026Not stated365 wallpapers or yoursNoneOptional sign-in

Which new tab extension fits your use case

Which to choose
If you want…Who it suitsPick
Nature and calm, with soundNature lovers, birdersBirdTab
Minimal, private, customisableMost peopleBonjourr
Tasks and focus on every tabPlanners, remote workersMomentum
Landscapes from aboveMap loversEarth View
A new photo of anythingPhotographersUnsplash Instant
A grid of shortcutsHeavy bookmark usersInfinity New Tab

What BirdTab users say

BirdTab is small next to the big new tab extensions, and its reviews are what it has to show. These are the figures on its Chrome Web Store listing, and a few of the reviews behind them.

5.0

average rating on the Chrome Web Store

138

ratings

Featured

badge on the Chrome Web Store

“The reason I love opening up a new tab. As an ornithologist and birder, this is my favorite extension.”
Joel Slade, Chrome Web Store review, Nov 6, 2025
“So nice to open the browser and have a gorgeous singing/calling bird instead of the same old google search page!”
John Cavitt, Chrome Web Store review, Jan 10, 2026
“I am obsessed with birds, and I love this extension so much that it's hard to put into words. I love discovering a new bird species with every tab I open. Thank you for making this extension for bird lovers like myself.”
Casey Mayo, Chrome Web Store review, Oct 21, 2025

Frequently asked questions

What is the most aesthetic new tab extension for Chrome?

For nature, BirdTab: a full-screen bird photograph and its call, and nothing else unless you turn it on. For a minimalist all-rounder, Bonjourr, which has a 4.9 rating from more than 24,000 ratings.

What is a good free alternative to Momentum?

Bonjourr is free and open source, with notes, a to-do list and a Pomodoro timer. BirdTab is free too, if you would rather have a calm nature page than a productivity dashboard.

How do I make my Chrome new tab look aesthetic?

Install a new tab extension from the Chrome Web Store, then hide what you do not need: most let you turn off the clock, search and shortcuts. For the rest of the browser, pick a matching Chrome theme.

Which new tab extensions do not collect data?

Bonjourr and BirdTab both say on their listings that they collect no personal data and need no account. Check the privacy section of any listing before installing.

Is Earth View from Google Earth still updated?

Its last version was released on 3 July 2024 and its website now redirects to the store listing. It is still on the Chrome Web Store, with 2,500 images.

Which new tab extension has nature sounds?

BirdTab plays each bird’s recorded call. Momentum has soundscapes, but only in Momentum Plus.

Do these extensions slow Chrome down?

A new tab extension only runs when you open a tab, so the effect is small. Lighter ones load faster: BirdTab is about 1 MB, Momentum about 18 MB, according to their listings.

Add BirdTab to Chrome

An aesthetic new tab should make you feel something when you open it.

BirdTab gives you a wild bird, photographed by someone who waited for it, and the sound it makes. It changes every time, so it never fades into the background.

Hide everything but the photograph if you like, or keep a clock and your shortcuts. There is no account to make.

If that is the kind of calm you are after, add BirdTab to Chrome and open a new tab.