OneTab Review: What It Does Well and When to Switch
Written by the BelayTab team. We’ve tried to be fair, including where OneTab is the better choice.
OneTab at a Glance
- Users
- 2,000,000 on the Chrome Web Store
- Latest version
- 2.21, updated 21 September 2026
- Price
- Free. Backup & Sync is a paid licence; the price is shown at checkout
- Storage
- Your browser’s internal database, on one computer, unless Backup & Sync is on
- Browsers
- Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Safari, plus Chromium browsers through the Chrome version
BelayTab vs OneTab: Feature Comparison
| Feature | OneTab | BelayTab |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic snapshots of open windows | No, saves when you click | Yes, every 5 minutes and when a window closes |
| Version history | No per-list history | Last 20 versions of each session |
| Deleted items | Trash | 30-day trash |
| Tab groups | Yes, can restore as browser tab groups | Yes, names and colours kept |
| Sync | Paid Backup & Sync, end-to-end encrypted | Paid Sync, $4/month or $36/year |
| Import | Pasted URL lists, browser bookmarks, reading list | OneTab, Session Buddy, Tab Session Manager, Tablerone, URL lists |
| Export | URL list, HTML file, shared web page | JSON, CSV, URL list, HTML bookmarks |
| Scheduled export file on disk | No | Yes, rolling JSON export |
| Closes tabs when saving | Yes | Yes by default; can keep them open |
| Host permissions | None required | None |
| Price | Free; sync is paid | Free; Sync is $4/month |
What OneTab Does Well
OneTab does one job quickly. Click the icon and every tab in the window closes and becomes a list you can restore later. For people who mainly want to free memory, that single click is hard to beat.
It is also more capable than its reputation. Version 2 added folders, search, stars, notes, locked groups and a trash, and it can restore a list as a browser tab group. Its optional Backup & Sync is end-to-end encrypted, so OneTab’s servers can’t read your tabs.
- Free, with no account needed for local use
- Actively updated: version 2.21 shipped in September 2026
- Share a list as a web page, or save it as an HTML file
- No host permissions required; access to one-tab.com is requested only for sync and sharing
Where OneTab Loses Tabs
OneTab saves when you click. Tabs you never sent to OneTab aren’t in it, so a crash or a closed window with unsaved tabs is outside what it can recover.
Without Backup & Sync, everything lives in one database inside your browser profile. OneTab’s troubleshooting page says plainly: do not uninstall and reinstall OneTab unless you are happy to wipe all of your OneTab data. It also lists system cleaners, Firefox’s Refresh, low disk space and crashes during a write as causes of data loss.
There is no per-list version history. If a list is merged or edited by mistake, the earlier state isn’t kept as a version you can pick.
OneTab’s own advice is to export regularly or turn on its Backup & Sync. Either protects you; the export is only as recent as the last time you remembered to do it.
Who Should Use Which
Stay with OneTab if you want a one-click list, you already pay for its Backup & Sync, or you rely on shared web pages of tab lists.
Choose BelayTab if you want tabs saved without clicking anything, earlier versions of each session you can go back to, and an export file written to disk on a schedule. BelayTab’s free tier covers all of that; only Sync is paid.
How to Switch From OneTab to BelayTab
Export your OneTab list
Open OneTab, choose Export / Import URLs, and copy the whole text box. If OneTab won’t open, don’t uninstall it; follow its tab-recovery page first.
Check or convert the export
Paste the text into the free OneTab converter at /tools/onetab-converter/ to see every group and turn it into JSON, CSV or HTML bookmarks. Nothing is uploaded.
Import into BelayTab
Open BelayTab, choose Import, pick OneTab and paste the text. Each OneTab group becomes a session, and duplicate imports are detected.
Keep OneTab until you’ve checked
Compare tab counts, then remove OneTab when you’re satisfied. From here BelayTab snapshots your open windows on its own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is OneTab safe?
Yes, OneTab is a long-running extension that keeps your tabs on your computer and doesn’t need host permissions. The risk is data loss, not privacy: its own troubleshooting page warns that uninstalling deletes your data, and that system cleaners or crashes can corrupt it.
Does OneTab sync between computers?
Yes, with its paid Backup & Sync licence. It is end-to-end encrypted and one licence covers up to 100 browsers or profiles. Without it, OneTab keeps your list on one computer only.
How do I export OneTab?
Open OneTab and choose Export / Import URLs, then copy the text. You can also save a folder as an HTML file from its More… menu. To turn the text into JSON, CSV or bookmarks, paste it into the converter at /tools/onetab-converter/.
Why did OneTab lose all my tabs?
The usual causes are reinstalling the extension, a system cleaner, Firefox’s Refresh, low disk space, or a crash while OneTab was writing. OneTab’s recovery page has a data-dump tool for cases where the extension stops opening; don’t uninstall it before trying that.
Can BelayTab import my OneTab tabs?
Yes. Paste the text from OneTab’s Export / Import URLs page into BelayTab’s importer. Groups become sessions, and importing the same text twice doesn’t create duplicates.
Sources
Facts about OneTab were checked against these public sources in September 2026. Products change; if something here is out of date, tell us at [email protected].
More Comparisons
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- ToolsOneTab Export ConverterTurn a OneTab export into JSON, CSV, Markdown or HTML bookmarks.