Overview

Pinako is a tab and session manager for people who want a structured home for browser research, project work and reference material. Its strongest fit is a Chromium-browser user who needs nested collections, notes and sharing; it is less compelling if simple tab saving or broad browser compatibility is the priority.

Key features

Nested organization and recovery

Pinako arranges tabs and sessions in nested trees and can reopen closed tabs and windows in their previous positions. Search, suspension and workspaces round out the core tools for handling a crowded browser. That structure should help users keep separate projects legible, but may be more than someone needs to save an occasional page.

Libraries collect tabs, windows and notes, and can be shared or used as collaborative workspaces. Imports from Session Buddy, Toby, Workona, Tabs Outliner, BrainTool, Link Map, TabXpert and OneTab give switchers several migration paths. The combination makes Pinako more useful as a continuing workspace than as a one-off session backup.

Notes, AI and backups

Rich-text notes are included; Pro+ adds resizable image, video and audio embeds stored in Pinako cloud. Natural-language search and an AI Librarian chat panel can help users find or work with their saved material, while an MCP bridge connects desktop AI clients. Examples include Claude, Codex, Cursor and Antigravity, alongside connected apps such as Notion, Google Sheets, Slack and Obsidian.

There is a meaningful privacy distinction between these features: AI Search sends the query and relevant context to xAI's Grok API, while the AI Bridge runs locally on the user's computer. The free extension stores data locally. Pinako's privacy policy says it does not sell data, read page contents or use stored data to train AI models; cloud data is stored with row-level security and transmitted over HTTPS. Users who do not want search context sent to an external AI service should avoid AI Search.

Local snapshots are supported, with optional backups to Google Drive, Dropbox, Filecoin, Arweave and Storj. This gives users several backup destinations, though some rely on external cloud or storage services rather than only a local copy.

Pricing

Pinako is freemium. The Free plan costs 0.00 USD per free and includes the extension, local backups, rich-text notes, and tab and bookmark trees. It is the sensible starting point for individual users who want local organization without paying, but does not include the paid plans' sync, sharing and AI search.

Pro costs 5.00 USD per month, billed $5/month billed monthly or $4.16/month billed annually. It adds sync, sharing, AI search and snapshot search, with 200 AI credits/month. This is the entry paid tier for people who need their collections across devices or want search and sharing, but the monthly AI allowance is limited.

Pro+ costs 10.00 USD per month, billed $10/month billed monthly or $8.33/month billed annually. Its 400 AI credits/month, collaboration, multimedia storage and blockchain backups suit users who need richer shared libraries or embedded media. Premium costs 25.00 USD per month, billed $25/month billed monthly or $20.83/month billed annually, and raises the allowance to 1,000 AI credits/month with expanded collaboration, AI and media storage limits. Enterprise costs 60.00 USD per month, billed $60/month billed monthly or $50.00/month billed annually; it provides 2,400 AI credits/month, large collaboration teams, bulk packages and SLA-backed support. Those higher tiers are aimed at increasingly larger or more intensive deployments, rather than users seeking only tab recovery.

New subscribers can try the monthly Pro and Pro+ plans for 14 days without providing a payment method. No trial is stated for Premium or Enterprise.

Platforms

Pinako lists Linux, web and Windows. Its extension works in Chromium-based browsers, but WebKit-based browsers such as Orion are not supported yet, so the broad platform list should not be mistaken for universal browser support. The AI Bridge requires the Chrome extension and is offered for Windows 10/11 and Linux x64 or ARM64.

Who it's for

Pinako is best for people who manage many tabs across ongoing projects and want their notes, saved windows and shared collections in the same system. Its local free tier also suits users who want to begin without cloud sync. Teams that need collaboration, or individuals who want AI-assisted search and cross-device sync, have a reason to consider paid plans. Users on unsupported browsers, or those who want a minimal tab saver without AI or shared-workspace needs, should look elsewhere.

Pros and cons

Pros: Nested trees, session restoration and search combine organization with recovery, rather than leaving users with a flat pile of saved links.
Pros: The free extension stores data locally and includes local backups and rich-text notes, making it useful before adopting paid sync.
Pros: Libraries, imports and optional backup destinations support users moving existing tab collections into a more durable workspace.
Cons: AI Search sends relevant context and the query to Grok, a trade-off for users who want AI-assisted retrieval without external processing.
Cons: WebKit-based browsers such as Orion are not supported, narrowing the choice for users outside Chromium.
Cons: Collaboration, multimedia storage and higher AI allowances require progressively more expensive plans, so the richer workspace is not part of the free offer.

Alternatives

For a broader comparison, see Tab Management Software. Choose Tabblar if its free plan's unlimited tabs, five workspaces and tab search fit your needs, or if its wider platform coverage matters. tabExtend is a better fit for users who want a free, no-account-needed option and can work within its 30-save limit. Pick Tabox for core tab collections, restore, folders and Google Drive sync in its free plan.

Workona may suit users who want a workspace-focused alternative across its listed platforms, while its free tier is limited to individual accounts with restricted spaces and sections and no free team or organization accounts. Toby is worth considering if a free allowance of up to 60 saved tabs and unlimited members is enough. Tabmanager.io, TabXpert and Tab Wrangler are other options to compare.

Verdict

Choose Pinako if you want a structured, searchable workspace for tabs, sessions and notes, with a local free tier and paid paths to sync and collaboration. Its nested libraries and migration options are the clearest reasons to choose it; look elsewhere if Chromium compatibility is a blocker or you do not want AI Search sending context to Grok.

	Pinako	Tab Wrangler
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Free trial	Yes	No
Paid from	$5/mo	Free
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Linux, Web, Windows	extension
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Tab search	Yes	Yes
Session restore	Yes	Yes
Tab suspension	Yes	No
Workspaces	Yes	No
Browser support	multi-browser	multi-browser
Cross-device sync	Yes	No

Pinako vs Tab Wrangler

Pinako

Tab Wrangler