Mue is a fast, open-source and free-to-use new tab page for modern browsers: a JavaScript web extension under the BSD-3-Clause licence that replaces the default new tab with a customisable, privacy-focused start page, published for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Whale with sideloadable builds on GitHub Releases.

What it is

Mue sits in the Browsers and Extensions part of Productivity and Utilities, and it is a browser extension rather than a website or a hosted service. Built with React and shipped as a web extension, it takes over the new tab page and renders a layout the user controls, with widgets such as weather, notes and bookmarks, and extensibility through the Mue Marketplace. The README frames the project around a beautiful and minimalist design, a customisable layout, privacy focus and open source code under the BSD-3 License. It is developed publicly on GitHub, with 758 stars, 86 forks and 26 open issues, and translations run through Weblate at hosted.weblate.org/projects/mue/.

The concrete thing it replaces is the stock new tab page of Chromium-based browsers and Firefox, which offers little beyond a search box or vendor-controlled content. Mue substitutes a page assembled from widgets and photography the user chooses, and the README states that it does not track browsing activity, which is the point for users who want a richer start page without exposing their tab history to a third party. For offline mode it uses stock photos from Pexels and Unsplash, and Undraw illustrations in the welcome modal. Because the same extension is published for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Whale, it also serves people who want one start page across several engines.

Key capabilities

• Customisable layout for the new tab page.
• Widgets for weather, notes and bookmarks.
• Privacy-focused behaviour: the extension does not track browsing activity.
• Extensible through the Mue Marketplace.
• Offline-mode photography from Pexels and Unsplash, plus Undraw images in the welcome modal.
• Translation workflow on Weblate, supported by the bun run translations and bun run translations:percentages scripts.
• Development toolchain scripts: bun install, bun run dev[:host], bun run build, bun run lint[:fix] and bun run pretty.

Who users are and how they use it

• Individuals install the published extension from Chrome Web Store, Microsoft Edge Add-ons, Firefox Add-ons or the Whale store; the README describes no account or service sign-up.
• Prospective users try the full feature set in the browser at demo.muetab.com before installing.
• Contributors follow CONTRIBUTING.md for the development workflow, the dev to beta to main branch strategy, the commit message format and the pull request process; maintainers follow docs/RELEASE_PROCESS.md.
• Translators add and complete languages through the hosted Weblate project.
• Developers run the Docker image with hot reload, built with docker build -t mue-app . and served on port 5173.

Getting started

Install from Chrome Web Store, Microsoft Edge Add-ons, Firefox Add-ons or the Whale store, or sideload the files from GitHub Releases; demo.muetab.com runs the extension in-browser. Developers run bun install and then bun run dev, or build the container with docker build -t mue-app . and run it on port 5173.

How it compares

No list of paid products that Mue replaces is provided in the facts, and no similar tools are named either, so it stands alone in this registry.

When to use it, and when not to

Choose Mue when a customisable, BSD-3-Clause licensed new tab page is wanted across Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Whale and a browser store listing is acceptable. Do not choose it expecting self-hosted infrastructure: the README documents only a development toolchain, namely the Bun scripts and a Docker image used for hot-reload development on port 5173, with no production deployment, database or storage guidance. The visible caveats are 26 open issues, a README written mainly for contributors rather than end users, and no stated support commitment beyond the published store listings.