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BirdTab vs Bonjourr: Which New Tab Is Right for You?

By Jai Pandya, who makes BirdTab · Updated

Both are free and need no account. Choose Bonjourr if you want a highly customisable minimalist page, with notes, a to-do list, a Pomodoro timer and Unsplash photographs, open source and in 43 languages. Choose BirdTab if you want nature on every tab: a wild bird photograph with its recorded call and facts.

At a glance

BirdTab and Bonjourr compared
BirdTabBonjourr
What you seeA bird photograph, its name and factsA photograph or video, clock and optional widgets
PhotosWild birds from iNaturalist, Wikimedia Commons and free photo librariesHand-curated Unsplash collection, changing with the time of day
SoundEach bird’s recorded callNone
WidgetsSearch, shortcuts, clock, countdown timer, quiz, historyQuick links, search, notes, to-do, Pomodoro, weather, quotes, custom CSS
PriceFreeFree, funded by donations
Account / dataNo account, no personal dataNo account, no data
Open sourceNoYes, GPL-3.0
Languages1043
BrowsersChrome, EdgeChrome, Firefox, Edge, web, self-hosted
Chrome Web Store rating5.0 from 138 ratings4.9 from 24,400 ratings
Users2,000400,000

Read on 15 October 2026. Sources: BirdTab on the Chrome Web Store, Bonjourr on the Chrome Web Store, bonjourr.fr, Bonjourr on GitHub

Where Bonjourr is the better choice

  • You want to design your own page: fonts, layout, custom CSS and many optional widgets.
  • You want notes, a to-do list or a Pomodoro timer on the new tab.
  • You use Firefox, or want to self-host it. Bonjourr is open source and runs almost anywhere.
  • You need a language BirdTab does not have: Bonjourr is in 43.

Where BirdTab is the better choice

  • You want nature, and birds in particular, rather than general photography.
  • You want sound: each bird’s own song or call, with quiet hours.
  • You want to learn as you go: names, facts, conservation status, a quiz and a history of every bird you have seen.
  • You want the birds of your own country, from more than 250 countries and regions.

Switching from Bonjourr

Install BirdTab from the Chrome Web Store and open a new tab; choose BirdTab when Chrome asks. Disable Bonjourr in chrome://extensions rather than removing it, so your setup is still there if you switch back.

What you keep: search, shortcuts and a clock. What you lose: Bonjourr’s notes, to-do list, Pomodoro timer and weather.

Add BirdTab to Chrome

Frequently asked questions

Is Bonjourr better than BirdTab?

For customising a minimalist page, yes: it has far more widgets and design options. For nature and birds, with sound, BirdTab is the one built for it.

Are Bonjourr and BirdTab both private?

Both listings say they collect no data and need no account. Bonjourr is also open source, so its code can be checked.

Does Bonjourr have bird photos?

Its backgrounds are a curated Unsplash collection of many subjects, not birds specifically. BirdTab shows only birds, with the species named.

Which is better on Firefox?

Bonjourr, because BirdTab is available for Chrome and Edge only.