Choose Session Buddy if
your main fear is losing a session to a crash, and you want a deep history of past windows on one Chrome profile.
Session Buddy vs Tab Session Manager: which is better? (2026)
Session Buddy: A privacy-first session manager: save every open tab, recover after a crash, and keep collections of links. Tab Session Manager: An open-source session manager with automatic saving, tags, tab groups and cloud sync.
Features and pricing checked 13 October 2026 against: Session Buddy on the Chrome Web Store , sessionbuddy.com , Tab Session Manager on the Chrome Web Store , Tab Session Manager on Firefox Add-ons , tab-session-manager.sienori.com .
The short answer
Which one to choose
Choose Tab Session Manager if
you want an open-source session manager that autosaves aggressively and syncs between Chrome and Firefox.
Feature by feature
Session Buddy vs Tab Session Manager
| Session Buddy | Tab Session Manager | |
|---|---|---|
| Brings a tab back at a time you choose | Not listed | Not listed |
| Repeating reminders | Not listed | Not listed |
| Reopens at the line you stopped reading | Not listed | Not listed |
| Saves a whole window and restores it | Yes | Yes |
| Saves sessions automatically | Yes | On close and on an interval |
| Keeps tab groups | Not listed | Yes |
| Manages every open tab, across windows | Yes | Not listed |
| Finds duplicate tabs | Not listed | Not listed |
| Puts idle tabs away automatically | Not listed | Not listed |
| Folders or collections of saved pages | Collections | Sessions with names and tags |
| Import and export | 15+ formats | Including Session Buddy |
| Share a list of tabs | Not listed | Not listed |
| Focus timer with site blocking | Not listed | Not listed |
| Sync between computers | No | Cloud sync |
| Mobile app | Not listed | Not listed |
Checked 13 October 2026 against each product’s own store listing and website. “Not listed” means the feature is not in the product’s own listing or site - not that it is missing.
Pricing and platforms
What it costs, and where it runs
| Session Buddy | Tab Session Manager | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Session manager | Session manager |
| Price | Free - "Access to all features is free" | Free and open source (MPL-2.0) |
| Account | Not needed ("No accounts, no tracking") | Not stated |
| Runs on | Chrome | Chrome, Edge, Firefox |
| Tab access asked for at install | Yes - asks for tab access at install | Yes - asks for tab access at install |
| In the stores |
|
|
Honestly
Where each one wins, and where it falls short
Where Session Buddy wins
- Recovers windows and tabs after a crash, from a history of how they were at each moment.
- Imports and exports in more than fifteen formats, including text, JSON, CSV, Markdown and HTML.
- Free, with no account, and built for thousands of tabs.
- A million users and 25,100 ratings averaging 4.7.
Where Session Buddy falls short
- Chrome only: its site links one store.
- No sync between computers - its own FAQ says so, with cloud storage planned.
- Nothing in its listing schedules a tab to come back at a time.
- Last updated on the Chrome Web Store on 28 April 2026.
Where Tab Session Manager wins
- Open source, on all three major stores, with 170,156 daily users on Firefox Add-ons.
- Autosaves when a window closes and on a regular interval.
- Saves tab groups in Chrome and Firefox, and imports from Session Buddy.
- Cloud sync between browsers.
Where Tab Session Manager falls short
- Rated 3.5 on the Chrome Web Store and 3.7 on Edge Add-ons.
- Nothing in its listing schedules a session to come back at a time.
- Asks for tab access at install.
The core difference
What actually separates Session Buddy and Tab Session Manager
The two best-known session managers. Session Buddy is Chrome-only, free, with a deep crash history and fifteen export formats, and no sync. Tab Session Manager is open source, on Chrome, Edge and Firefox, autosaves on close and on a timer, saves tab groups and syncs through the cloud - and it imports from Session Buddy.
What both miss
What Session Buddy and Tab Session Manager both miss
- Neither lists a way to set a time for a session to come back.
- Neither lists a library of single pages you can give a time to later.
- Both ask for tab access at install.
Where Latr comes in
Latr closes a tab with a time and reopens it on its own when that time comes, scrolled to the line you stopped reading. It also saves whole windows with their tab groups, manages your open tabs and keeps a library of pages - on Chrome, Edge and Firefox, with no account, and with no permission warning at install. It is new and small, and it has no phone app.
Questions
Session Buddy vs Tab Session Manager: common questions
Is Session Buddy or Tab Session Manager free?
Session Buddy: Free - "Access to all features is free". Tab Session Manager: Free and open source (MPL-2.0).
Do Session Buddy and Tab Session Manager need an account?
Session Buddy: Not needed ("No accounts, no tracking"). Tab Session Manager: Not stated.
Which browsers do Session Buddy and Tab Session Manager run on?
Session Buddy: Chrome. Tab Session Manager: Chrome, Edge, Firefox.
When were Session Buddy and Tab Session Manager last updated?
Session Buddy: 28 April 2026 on Chrome Web Store. Tab Session Manager: 18 July 2026 on Chrome Web Store, 17 July 2026 on Edge Add-ons, 17 July 2026 on Firefox Add-ons.
Close the tab.
It will come back.
Free, no account, and nothing leaves your device. About ten seconds to install, and one keystroke to use.
Also on Brave, Vivaldi, Arc and Opera - straight from the Chrome Web Store listing.