Two different philosophies
OneTab and TabGroup Vault both help you deal with too many open tabs, but they approach the problem from completely different angles.
OneTab was built before Chrome had tab groups. Its core action is straightforward: click the button, and all your open tabs collapse into a list of links on a single page. You get your memory back and a tidy list you can revisit later. It is a simple, effective approach that has served millions of users well.
TabGroup Vault was built for a different time, one where Chrome's native tab groups are central to how people organize their work. Instead of flattening tabs into a list, it takes a snapshot of your entire tab group layout. When you restore, you get back exactly what you had: named groups, color coding, and each tab in its correct position within its group.
This is not a minor difference. It reflects two very different ideas about what "saving tabs" means.
Feature-by-feature comparison
| Feature | TabGroup Vault | OneTab |
|---|---|---|
| Tab Group Support | Full, saves names, colors, structure | None, flattens to URL list |
| Save Method | Snapshot of all groups | Collapse all tabs to list |
| Restore Method | Rebuilds groups with full structure | Opens tabs individually or all at once |
| Cloud Backup | Google Drive integration | None |
| Snapshot History | Yes, browse and restore past snapshots | No |
| Multi-Profile | Up to 5 Chrome profiles | No |
| Export/Import | JSON export, Drive backup | Text URL list export |
| Privacy | Local-first, optional Drive sync | Local only |
| Free Tier | 5 snapshots | Unlimited |
| Paid Tier | $29 one-time (lifetime) | None needed |
| Last Updated | Actively maintained (2026) | Updated Dec 2025 (v2.4) |
| Browser Support | Chrome, Chromium-based | Chrome, Firefox |
Where OneTab wins
Fairness matters in a comparison, so let us start with where OneTab genuinely has the advantage:
- Price: completely free. OneTab has no paid tier, no limitations, and no upsells. If your budget is zero, it delivers real value at no cost.
- Simplicity. OneTab does one thing and does it well. There is almost no learning curve. Click the icon, tabs become a list. Click a link, the tab reopens.
- Firefox support. OneTab works on Firefox as well as Chrome. TabGroup Vault is Chrome-only (and Chromium-based browsers).
- Proven track record. OneTab has millions of users and has been around for over a decade. It is a known quantity.
When OneTab is the right choice
If you do not use Chrome tab groups, prefer a zero-cost tool, and just need a quick way to collapse tabs into a list, OneTab is still a perfectly valid choice. Not every user needs the additional features TabGroup Vault provides.
Where TabGroup Vault wins
TabGroup Vault's advantages center on its understanding of how modern Chrome users actually organize their work:
Tab group preservation
This is the single biggest differentiator. When you save with TabGroup Vault, it captures the complete structure of your tab groups: every group name, every color assignment, and every tab's position within its group. When you restore, all of that comes back exactly as it was.
With OneTab, if you had five color-coded groups for different projects, they all become a single flat list. Restoring that list opens all the tabs, but the group structure is gone. You would need to manually recreate every group and drag tabs back into them.
Snapshot history
TabGroup Vault maintains a history of your snapshots. If you saved your workspace on Monday, made changes Tuesday, and want to go back to Monday's layout, you can. OneTab has no concept of versioning. It shows you the current list, and that is all.
Cloud backup
TabGroup Vault can back up your snapshots to Google Drive. This means your saved tab groups survive Chrome reinstalls, computer changes, and profile resets. OneTab stores everything in local browser storage with no backup option. If that storage is cleared, your data is gone.
Multi-profile support
If you use multiple Chrome profiles (say, one for work and one for personal browsing) TabGroup Vault's Pro tier supports up to five profiles. OneTab operates within a single profile with no cross-profile features.
The real-world difference
To illustrate why tab group support matters, consider a typical workflow. You are a developer working on three projects simultaneously. You have a red "API Docs" group with five documentation tabs, a blue "Frontend" group with your app and design references, and a green "DevOps" group with your deployment dashboards.
With OneTab, clicking save turns all 15 tabs into a flat list of 15 URLs. The group names and colors vanish. When you restore, you get 15 individual tabs that you need to manually sort back into groups.
With TabGroup Vault, one click saves the entire layout. Restore it tomorrow, next week, or next month, and you get back exactly three groups with the correct names, colors, and tabs inside each one. No manual reorganization required.
For someone who uses tab groups as a core part of their workflow, this difference saves real time every single day.
Pricing breakdown
OneTab is free. There is no paid version and no feature limitations. This is its strongest selling point and a completely valid reason to choose it.
TabGroup Vault has a free tier with five snapshots, which is enough to evaluate whether the tab-group-aware workflow fits your needs. The Pro upgrade is $29, paid once, for lifetime access. There is no monthly fee and no annual renewal.
The question is whether the additional features (tab group preservation, cloud backup, snapshot history, and multi-profile support) are worth $29 to you. For someone who relies on tab groups daily, the answer is typically yes. For someone who rarely uses groups, OneTab's free tier is hard to argue against.
TabGroup Vault quick facts
Free tier: 5 snapshots, full tab group support
Pro: $29 one-time, unlimited snapshots, Google Drive backup, 5 profiles
Privacy: Local-first storage, Drive sync is optional
Install: Available on the Chrome Web Store
Who should choose what
Choose OneTab if:
- You do not use Chrome tab groups
- You want a completely free tool with zero limitations
- You need Firefox support
- Simple tab-to-list conversion is all you need
Choose TabGroup Vault if:
- You organize your work using Chrome tab groups
- You want to preserve group names, colors, and structure when saving
- You need cloud backup for your saved tabs
- You want snapshot history to revisit previous workspace layouts
- You use multiple Chrome profiles
Can you use both?
Yes. OneTab and TabGroup Vault do not conflict with each other. Some users keep OneTab for quick tab-collapsing during browsing sessions and use TabGroup Vault for deliberate workspace snapshots they want to preserve long-term. The two extensions serve different moments in a browsing workflow and coexist without issues.
The verdict
OneTab and TabGroup Vault are not really competitors. They solve different problems. OneTab is a quick-action tool for collapsing tabs into a list. TabGroup Vault is a backup-and-restore tool for preserving your organized workspace.
If Chrome tab groups are central to how you work, TabGroup Vault provides something OneTab was never designed to offer. If you just need a simple, free way to reduce tab clutter, OneTab remains a solid tool for that specific job.