OneTab, Tab Wrangler or WithFew: which tab manager fits how you work
28 September 2026 · 5 min read
Tab managers solve the same problem (too many tabs) with very different ideas. Which one suits you depends less on features than on how you work. Here are three popular approaches, including ours, as fairly as we can put them.
OneTab: save everything to a list
One click turns all your open tabs into a list on a single page, and closes them. You can restore them one at a time or all at once, later. It's free.
Suits you if you like to clear the decks deliberately, at the end of a task or a day, and come back to a saved list. Less suited if you want it to happen without you, or want your tabs to stay visible in the tab strip.
Tab Wrangler: close tabs after a while
Tabs you haven't used for a set time are closed automatically, and kept in a list you can reopen them from. You can lock tabs so they're never closed. It's free and open source.
Suits you if you want automatic cleanup and are comfortable with tabs leaving your tab strip straight into a list. Less suited if you'd rather see a tab going before it's gone, or want the rest of your tabs organised too.
WithFew: tabs move aside, then close, and the rest are grouped
Tabs you haven't used for a few hours move into Bin, a collapsed group in your own tab strip, where they're unloaded but still one click away. Whatever stays in Bin for five days is closed, with Undo. Meanwhile the rest are grouped by what you're doing: tabs from the same search together, then by kind of site. It all runs on your device. It's free for 7 days, then $5 a month.
The biggest difference is that WithFew doesn't treat every tab the same. A small model inside the extension decides what each tab is, from its address and title alone, on your device:
- What kind of site it is (docs, shopping, AI, news…), which is how tabs get grouped.
- Whether it's throwaway, like search results or a sign-in page. Those leave Bin sooner.
- Whether it's work in progress, like a half-read doc. Those stay in Bin longer.
- Whether it's private, like banking or health. Those are never closed.
When it isn't sure, it doesn't guess: the tab simply gets your usual timing. Nothing about your tabs is sent anywhere to make these decisions, and the model never reads the pages themselves.
Suits you if you live in 30+ tabs, never make time to organise them, and want it to happen without you, with a grace period you can see. Less suited if you prefer to decide yourself when tabs are cleared, or want a free tool.
Side by side
| OneTab | Tab Wrangler | WithFew | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When tabs go | When you click | After a set time | To Bin after a few hours, closed after days |
| Where they go | A saved list | A list of closed tabs | A collapsed group in your tab strip, then closed |
| Organises open tabs | No | No | Yes, into named groups |
| Treats tabs differently | No: every tab goes | No: one timer for every tab you haven't locked | Yes, decided on your device: search pages go sooner, work in progress stays longer, private pages are never closed |
| Price | Free | Free | 7 days free, then $5/month |
And Chrome's own tools
Before any extension: Memory Saver (Settings → Performance) unloads tabs you're not using, tab search (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+A) finds any open tab, and tab groups keep related tabs together. For some people, that's enough. See Chrome slow with too many tabs for how to get the most from them.