Toby alternatives: the best tab managers for Chrome
If Toby falls short or you don't want to pay for it, you have plenty of options. We compare the best extensions and what Chrome already gives you for free.
Toby is one of the best-known extensions for organizing tabs. It saves groups of tabs as collections and shows them on your new tab page. But its free plan has a limit, and not everyone needs the same thing.
We checked the official website and the Chrome Web Store listing of every tool. We're the NexoPad team and we're on the list, but we'll tell you clearly when another option suits you better.
The short answer
If you just want to sort and save tabs, start with Chrome tab groups. They're free, already installed, and a closed group stays saved so you can open it later.
If you want something like Toby, look at Workona to work by project or Session Buddy to save full sessions without an account. If your problem is memory, OneTab is still the simplest option.
And if what you repeat every day is opening the same set of pages, you can save them as a link group in NexoPad, next to your quick replies and your notes.
Summary: tab managers for Chrome (October 2026)
| Free plan | Paid price | Best for | Last update | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome tab groups | Yes, built into Chrome | None | Grouping and saving tabs without installing anything | Ships with Chrome |
| Toby | Yes, up to 60 saved tabs | Productivity: $6/month, or $4.50/month billed yearly | Visual collections on the new tab page | October 15, 2026 |
| Workona | Yes | Pro and Team plans (price on their site) | Splitting your work into project spaces | October 9, 2026 |
| Session Buddy | Yes, free | None | Saving and restoring sessions, no account | April 28, 2026 |
| OneTab | Yes, free | None | Freeing up memory in one click | October 11, 2026 |
| Tabs Outliner | Yes | Pro features for a one-time payment | Seeing windows and tabs as a tree | July 23, 2026 |
| Tab Manager Plus | Yes, free and open source | None | Finding and jumping between lots of tabs | October 15, 2026 |
| NexoPad | Yes, Seed plan | Pro: $7/month or $49/year. Teams: $12/user/month | Saving tabs as links next to your snippets and notes | Not applicable |
What Chrome already gives you for free
Tab groups
Right-click a tab and choose Add tab to group, then New group. Give it a name and a color, and drag in the other tabs on the same topic.
You can collapse a group so it takes up little space in the tab bar. It's the quickest way to keep, say, a client's work apart from your reading.
Guide to grouping tabs in ChromeSaved groups
When you close a group with Close group, it isn't deleted. According to Chrome Help, it stays saved in the bookmarks bar or in the More > Tab groups menu, and you reopen it from there.
If you sign in with your Google Account, groups sync to your other devices. For many people, this already does the same job as Toby's collections.
- Free and already installed.
- No extensions asking for extra permissions.
- Less visual than a board of collections.
Reading list
For articles you want to read later, right-click the tab and choose Add tab to reading list. Then you can close it without fear of losing it.
It works one tab at a time, so it's good for single reads, not for saving a whole session.
Save them all as bookmarks and save memory
With Ctrl+Shift+D (Cmd+Shift+D on Mac) you save every tab in the window to a bookmark folder. And Memory Saver (in Settings, Performance) puts tabs you're not using to sleep.
We walk you through it step by step in our guide to saving all your open tabs.
How to save all tabs in ChromeToby: visual collections on your new tab page
Toby replaces your new tab page with a board. There you save your tabs in collections, such as "Website project" or "Trip to Lisbon", and reopen them in one click. On the Chrome Web Store it has about 300,000 users and a rating of 3.5 out of 5.
The good: it's very visual, you get it in a minute and you can share collections with your team. It's still active: its last update is from October 15, 2026.
What to know: the free plan (Starter) lets you save up to 60 tabs. If you go over, you can still view, open and export them, but you can't save new ones until you drop below 60 or pay. The Productivity plan costs $6 a month, or $4.50 a month billed yearly. The Team plan costs $10 a month per person, or $8 billed yearly. You also need an account.
Workona: workspaces by project
Workona organizes your browser into spaces. Each space is a project with its open tabs and saved resources. Switch spaces and your tabs switch too. On the Chrome Web Store it has about 200,000 users and a rating of 4.2 out of 5.
The good: it saves your tabs automatically, can put unused tabs to sleep to save memory and syncs them across computers. It's the most complete option if you juggle several projects at once. Its last update is from October 9, 2026.
What to know: it's a big tool with its own way of working, and it takes a while to get used to. Its website says it's free for everyone, with paid plans: Pro adds unlimited spaces and 90 days of session backups, and Team requires at least 3 users.
Session Buddy: save and restore sessions
Session Buddy saves all your open tabs in one click and lets you restore them later, even after Chrome closes unexpectedly. It has a million users and a rating of 3.3 out of 5 on the Chrome Web Store.
The good: it's free, needs no account and stores your data on your computer. It organizes what you save into collections, searches open tabs, collections and history at once, and exports to many formats, such as CSV, Markdown or HTML.
What to know: since it stores data locally, it doesn't sync between devices. Its listing says a paid cloud option may come later. Its last update is from April 28, 2026.
Other options that are still active
OneTab
Turns all your tabs into a list in one click and frees up memory. Free, no sign-up, with about 2 million users and a 3.8 rating. We compare it in depth in OneTab alternatives.
OneTab on the Chrome Web StoreTabs Outliner
Shows your windows and tabs as a tree you can sort and annotate. Free, with Pro features for a one-time payment. About 100,000 users and a 3.2 rating. Its look is a bit dated.
Tabs Outliner on the Chrome Web StoreTab Manager Plus
See all your tabs and windows in one view, search by title or address and spot duplicates. Free and open source. About 200,000 users and a 4.5 rating, the highest on this list.
Tab Manager Plus on the Chrome Web StoreWhere NexoPad fits
NexoPad isn't a tab manager like Toby or Workona. It doesn't save your session on its own, doesn't put tabs to sleep and doesn't create workspaces. It's an extension for keeping your quick replies (snippets you insert with shortcuts like /hello), your notes with reminders, your text clippings and your links, all in one place.
For tabs, it lets you do two things. You can save the current tab as a link. And you can click Save all tabs to turn the pages in the window into a named group. Later you open that group in one click from the popup or the side panel, and Chrome shows it as a tab group with its name and color.
It makes sense if you open the same set of pages again and again: your morning tools, a client's pages or the sources for a report. You find them with Ctrl+K search, next to your snippets and notes. Each group counts as one link: the free Seed plan allows up to 20 links and Pro up to 1,000.
If you're after a visual board with hundreds of saved tabs, Toby or Workona fit better. And if you want a link library, see our comparison of bookmark and link managers.
Which tab manager do you need?
You want something free with nothing to install
Use Chrome tab groups and saved groups. Add the reading list for articles you haven't read yet.
You like Toby but don't want to pay
Try Session Buddy to save sessions in collections for free, or Chrome's saved groups if something simple is enough.
You work on several projects at once
Workona is the most complete for giving each project its own space. Toby also works if you prefer a visual board.
Your computer slows down with so many tabs
Turn on Chrome's Memory Saver. If that's not enough, OneTab closes everything and saves it in a list.
You have dozens of windows open
Tab Manager Plus lets you search and jump to any tab. Tabs Outliner shows them as a tree.
You repeat the same pages every day
Save them as a group in NexoPad and open them all at once, next to your work snippets and notes.
Tips for having fewer tabs open
- One group per task, not per website. Group what you use together, like "October invoice", and close it when you're done.
- Close what you can find again. If a page is in your bookmarks or history, you don't need to keep it open.
- Send reads to the reading list. An article you haven't read doesn't need a tab.
- Use one window per project. It's easier to close a whole window than to hunt for loose tabs.
- Review your saved groups every week. Delete the ones you no longer use so they don't become another junk drawer.
- Get back what you close by mistake.
Ctrl+Shift+T(Cmd+Shift+Ton Mac) reopens the last closed tab or window.
Frequently asked questions
What's the best free alternative to Toby?
It depends on what you use Toby for. To save tabs in collections for free with no account, Session Buddy. For something simple with nothing to install, Chrome's saved groups.
Is Toby still free?
It has a free plan, Starter, that lets you save up to 60 tabs. To save more you need the Productivity plan, from $4.50 a month billed yearly.
Does Chrome have a built-in tab manager?
Yes. Tab groups let you group, name and color tabs. When you close a group it stays saved and you can reopen it from the Tab groups menu.
Which extension helps if Chrome is slow with lots of tabs?
Try Chrome's Memory Saver first. If that's not enough, OneTab or Workona can put tabs to sleep or close them for you. We compare more options in OneTab alternatives.
What's the difference between Toby and Workona?
Toby is a board of collections on your new tab page. Workona organizes your whole browser into project spaces, saves your tabs automatically and can put them to sleep to save memory.
Does Session Buddy sync between computers?
No. It stores your data on your computer and doesn't need an account. You can export your sessions to a file to move them to another computer.
Can NexoPad replace Toby?
Not fully. NexoPad saves tabs as links or as groups you open in one click, but it has no visual board and doesn't save your session automatically. It fits if you want your links next to your snippets and notes.
Can I try NexoPad Pro for free?
Yes. You get a 7-day free trial. After that you can stay on the free Seed plan or move to Pro for $7 a month or $49 a year.
Published on October 18, 202611 min read
Try NexoPad for free
Text shortcuts, notes, links and AI in any tab. Install it in under a minute.