ChatGPT Atlas, OpenAI's Chromium-based browser with ChatGPT built in, no longer works. It launched on October 21, 2025 for Apple silicon Macs only, and OpenAI shut it down on August 9, 2026, moving its browser-based agent features into ChatGPT and Codex. The new ChatGPT desktop app for macOS and Windows, released on July 9, 2026, combines Chat, Work and Codex and includes a built-in browser. chatgpt.com/atlas now opens regular ChatGPT. For a standalone AI browser, Perplexity's Comet, Dia and Brave with Leo are the main options.
This analysis is based on documentation, public user reports, and vendor materials — not yet on our own hands-on testing. How we rate
ChatGPT Atlas was OpenAI's attempt at its own web browser. Released on October 21, 2025 for Macs with Apple silicon, it was built on Chromium and put ChatGPT at the center of browsing: an "Ask ChatGPT" sidebar on every page, optional browser memories that let ChatGPT recall sites you had visited, and an agent mode for paying subscribers that could click, type and navigate through multi-step tasks on its own.
It lasted a little over nine months. OpenAI shut Atlas down on August 9, 2026, and the address chatgpt.com/atlas now opens the regular ChatGPT home page. The versions for Windows, iOS and Android that OpenAI promised at launch never shipped, not even as public betas.
The shutdown was the end of a consolidation OpenAI announced months earlier. In March 2026, it said it would combine Atlas, the ChatGPT desktop app and Codex into a single desktop application, reported at the time by CNBC and The Wall Street Journal. Rather than keep a separate browser alive, OpenAI moved the pieces that worked into its main products.
OpenAI's help center describes the change as evolving Atlas into ChatGPT for browser-based agentic work, and lists what the new experience adds: multiple tabs, downloads, improved navigation and support for logging in to accounts. Before the shutdown, users were asked to move to a supported browser and export their bookmarks and any pages they wanted to keep.
The replacement is the ChatGPT desktop app released on July 9, 2026 for macOS and Windows. It combines Chat for questions, Work for research and finished deliverables, and Codex for software development, with a switcher between them, and includes a built-in browser that can find pages from your browsing history or search Google from its address bar. Voice arrived in Work and Codex later in July.
For most former Atlas users, that app covers what Atlas did, with two differences: it runs on Windows as well as macOS, and the browser lives inside ChatGPT rather than replacing your everyday browser. Features and limits follow your ChatGPT plan, from the free tier to Plus at $20 a month and Pro from $100. Our ChatGPT review covers what each plan includes.
Atlas was a Chromium browser, so its data used standard formats. Users who exported bookmarks before August 9 can import the HTML file into Chrome, Edge, Brave, Dia or most other browsers. After the shutdown date, the app stopped working, so data that was not exported may no longer be reachable.
It is also worth tidying up what Atlas left behind. Remove the app from your Applications folder, check that another browser is set as your default, and review ChatGPT's memory settings, since Atlas's browser memories were tied to your ChatGPT account.
For people who want ChatGPT's agent, the ChatGPT desktop app is the direct successor. For a standalone AI browser, the options in late 2026 are:
| Browser | Maker | Platforms | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comet | Perplexity | Mac, Windows, iOS, Android | The closest match to Atlas, with an assistant in every tab and an agent on Perplexity's paid plans |
| Dia | The Browser Company (Atlassian) | Mac; Windows due this fall | An assistant that works across your work apps and meetings |
| Brave with Leo | Brave Software | Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS | Privacy, with no account needed and no chat logs |
| Chrome with Gemini | Windows, Mac | Google account users who want AI built into Chrome | |
| Edge with Microsoft Copilot | Microsoft | Windows, Mac | Microsoft 365 users |
Arc, The Browser Company's older browser, still works but no longer gets new features, so it is not a good long-term replacement.
Atlas joins a run of retreats among AI browsers: Arc went into maintenance in 2025 so its maker could build Dia, and Dia itself dropped its paid Pro plan in May 2026. Building and securing a browser is expensive, and agentic browsing carries real security risks, since pages can hide instructions that manipulate an agent. The large AI companies now seem to prefer putting a browser inside their assistant over asking people to switch browsers.
For users, the lesson is to keep bookmarks and passwords portable and to treat any new AI browser as something that could change or disappear. For more on the category, see our guide to the best AI browsers.
No. OpenAI shut down ChatGPT Atlas on August 9, 2026, about nine and a half months after launching it on October 21, 2025. The browser no longer works, and chatgpt.com/atlas now opens the regular ChatGPT home page. OpenAI asked users to move to another browser and export bookmarks and other data before the shutdown date.
OpenAI chose to fold Atlas into its main products rather than maintain a separate browser. In March 2026 it announced plans to combine Atlas, the ChatGPT desktop app and Codex into one desktop application, and its help center describes the change as evolving Atlas into ChatGPT for browser-based agentic work, with multiple tabs, downloads, better navigation and account login support in ChatGPT.
The ChatGPT desktop app. The version released on July 9, 2026 for macOS and Windows combines Chat, Work and Codex in one app and includes a built-in browser that can search your browsing history or Google from its address bar. Browser-based agent tasks now run in ChatGPT and Codex rather than in a separate browser.
Only if you exported them before August 9, 2026, as OpenAI advised. Atlas was built on Chromium, so its bookmarks could be exported in the standard HTML format and imported into Chrome, Edge, Brave, Dia or other browsers. After the shutdown the app stopped working, so anything not exported may no longer be reachable.
No. OpenAI said at launch that Windows, iOS and Android versions were coming soon, but Atlas only ever shipped for Macs with Apple silicon. Windows users got the browsing features later through the ChatGPT desktop app instead, which runs on both macOS and Windows.
A feature for Plus, Pro and Business subscribers that let ChatGPT operate the browser on your behalf: opening pages, clicking, filling in forms, comparing products and completing multi-step tasks. Atlas also offered an Ask ChatGPT sidebar on every page and optional browser memories. Those agent capabilities now live in ChatGPT and Codex.
It depends on what you used it for. People who want ChatGPT's agent should use the ChatGPT desktop app. For a standalone AI browser, Perplexity's Comet is the closest match, Dia from The Browser Company suits Mac users who want an assistant across work apps, and Brave with its Leo assistant suits people who prioritize privacy on every platform.
Anthropic's assistant, built around long-context reasoning and code. Strong at $20; the usage limits are the unpublished part.
Google's assistant, bundled with storage and Workspace access. Plus is $4.99, Pro $19.99 with a 1 million token context, and Ultra from $99.99.
Visual automation with 3,000+ apps, billed in credits: a free plan with 1,000 a month, then $9 to $29 a month billed yearly for 10,000 credits.
