Compare Humble New Tab and Recall: Which Extension is the Best?

Humble offers a simple and customizable interface for your browser's new tab. It’s open-source, lightweight, and focuses on functionality, making it ideal for users seeking efficiency over aesthetics.
With Recall, you can capture, summarize, and organize articles, PDFs, and videos with AI, spaced repetition, browser extensions, and strong privacy controls.
Key Features
  • Customizable Layout: Drag-and-drop functionality for easy organization.
  • Lightweight Performance: Minimal impact on system resources.
  • Open-Source: Available for tweaks and modifications.
  • Simple Design: Focuses on usability over aesthetics.
  • Cross-Browser Compatibility: Available for Chrome and Firefox.
  • AI Summarization: Instantly summarizes articles, PDFs, YouTube videos, and more.
  • Personal Knowledge Base: Saves and organizes your summaries for easy retrieval.
  • Spaced Repetition & Active Recall: Helps you actually remember what you save, not just store it.
  • Augmented Browsing: Highlights related content as you browse, surfacing connections in your knowledge.
  • Browser Extensions: One-click saving and summarizing directly from Chrome or Firefox.
  • Editable Notebook: Add notes, highlights, and customize your saved content.
  • Tagging & Organization: Automatic and manual tagging, with support for nested tags.
  • Cross-Platform Sync: Works on desktop and mobile, keeping your knowledge base up to date.
Our Rating
8.5
8.9
Total users
20,993
73,229
Total ratings
1,220
95
Average rating
4.8 ⭐
4.1 ⭐
Entry Level PriceFreeFree
Chrome
Chrome Web Store logo
4.7
4.86
1.1K+ ratings
20.0K+Users
Chrome Web Store logo
4.2
4.14
78 ratings
70.0K+Users
Edge
-
-
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox Add-ons Store logo
4.8
4.80
130 ratings
993Users
Mozilla Firefox Add-ons Store logo
3.9
3.94
17 ratings
3.2K+Users
Safari
-
-
Features
7.0

Humble New Tab Page shines in its simplicity and customization options. You can easily rearrange bookmarks, apps, and other elements using its intuitive drag-and-drop feature.

It’s not overloaded with unnecessary bells and whistles, which keeps it fast and efficient. However, compared to other tools, it lacks more advanced features like integrated to-do lists or news feeds.

If you’re looking for a straightforward way to manage your new tab content, it’s hard to beat. But for power users, the simplicity might feel like a limitation.

9.2

Recall's range of functions is impressive for a relatively new tool. The AI summary works on a wide range of content, from articles to YouTube videos with a running time of several hours. We particularly liked the personal knowledge base and the way Recall automatically links related content. Spaced Repetition and Active Recall are outstanding features for students. However, some features are still in beta or will be available soon. The functions in the free version are severely limited in the number of users per day, and there is an upper limit for free use.

Performance
10

Performance is where Humble New Tab Page really excels. It’s incredibly lightweight, ensuring that your browser’s speed isn’t compromised.

The extension loads quickly and doesn’t introduce any noticeable lag, even with multiple elements on the page. This efficiency makes it a great choice for users with older or less powerful computers.

9.0

Retrieval is fast and reliable in most cases. The summary is fast, even with very extreme examples such as a 9-hour news show that we had summarized in our test. Occasionally, we encountered errors or slowdowns, especially when asking further questions about the summarized content via the wizard. The team is actively working on performance improvements and there are regular updates. Overall, the tool feels stable and is suitable for everyday use.

Design
7.0

The design of Humble New Tab Page is, well, humble. It’s clear that the focus is on function over form. While it’s not going to win any awards for aesthetics, the design is clean, uncluttered, and gets the job done. For users who value a visually rich experience, this might be a drawback.

The minimalist design is fully customizable, allowing you to change the font style, background colors, and overall layout. You can even set your own background image.

Here's a screenshot showing how easy it is to adjust the tool's appearance:

Customize the appearance of Humble New Page

So, if you prefer a simple, distraction-free workspace, this tool might be the way to go.

9.0

The user interface has a clear and modern design. The focus is on user-friendliness. We found the browser extension intuitive and easy to navigate. The tagging and organization system can be used flexibly, and some users mentioned minor bugs in the user interface, but these were only minimally noticeable in the test.

Value for Money
9.5

It’s hard to argue with the value provided by a free, open-source tool that does exactly what it promises. Humble New Tab Page delivers solid performance without any hidden costs or premium upgrades.

It’s a fantastic option for users who want a customizable new tab experience without spending a dime. The only reason it doesn’t get a perfect score is that there are other free options with more features, albeit at the cost of simplicity and speed.

8.1

The free tariff is suitable for infrequent users who do not need all the functions, as you will quickly reach the map limit. However, if you want to use the extension on a day-to-day basis, you cannot avoid the
extension. The paid plan is competitively priced, especially with the student discount. We appreciate that some features will remain free forever, and the team is open to feedback on pricing. Compared to alternatives, Recall offers good value for money for those who need advanced knowledge management features, but casual users may find the limitations too restrictive and stop using the extension.

Ease of Use
7.5

Setting up and using Humble New Tab Page is simple. There's no need to sign up, and it provides a lightweight bookmark manager right in your new tab.

The options menu is easy to navigate, making it intuitive to customize things like fonts, colors, and spacing.

That said, it might take a bit of time to discover that you can drag and drop everything around, and not everyone may realize that you can adjust columns by right-clicking.

Once you figure this out, the drag-and-drop interface makes customization easy, even for those who aren’t tech-savvy.

However, advanced features like injecting custom CSS may be more suited for developers. Overall, though, the experience is very user-friendly.

8.0

An account is required to use Recall. However, due to the integration with a Google and Apple login, this should be easy for everyone.
Saving and summarizing content is a one-click process that is well explained at the beginning. However, mastering all functions (e.g., nested tags, links, and spatial repetitions) requires some time and some searching, which can lead to many users not being able to exploit the full potential.

Security & Privacy
10

Humble New Tab Page respects your privacy by not collecting or storing any user data, which is a significant plus in today’s digital age.

As it is open-source you can always double-check.

9.9

Recall is characterized by its privacy-friendly approach. User data is not used by the extension for advertising, profiling, or AI training. All content is stored securely, and users retain full control over their data. Data can be exported for inspection or deleted at any time. The data protection guidelines are transparent, and support is always available to answer questions about data protection. We were unable to identify any uncertainties during our review.

Conclusion

Humble New Tab Page is a fantastic choice for users who value simplicity, speed, and customization.

While it may not offer the rich visuals or advanced features of other new tab extensions, its focus on functionality and user control makes it a standout tool. If you’re looking for a no-frills extension that just works, and you appreciate the transparency of open-source software, Humble New Tab Page is definitely worth considering.

It’s not the flashiest option, but it gets the job done.

Recall impressed us with its useful intelligent use of AI and its focus on helping users in their everyday lives, especially when learning. The browser extension makes it easy to capture content, and the revision features with auto-generated questions are a real bonus for learners.

For occasional users, the free version may be enough, but if you want to use the extension, you can't avoid the paid version. The extension is not yet perfect and has small bugs, but the team reacts quickly to these and feedback, and many new functions are currently being introduced.

Overall, Recall is a good choice for anyone looking to do more than just bookmark cards and build a personal knowledge base. If you're tired of forgetting what you've read online and want to save time, it's a must!

Our Recommendation

In our comparison between Humble New Tab and Recall, Recall came out on top, scoring 8.9.

Recall is the most widely used, with over 73k users and 95+ reviews—and it also delivered the strongest performance in our tests. User reviews for Recall reflect our findings, while we rate Humble New Tab lower than users do.

Notably, Humble New Tab has the highest user rating in the Chrome Web Store at 4.76, which is even higher than our rating of 8.5.

In the end, the differences between these extensions are minimal, so your choice may come down to personal preference or specific features.


  • Looking for the richest feature set? Recall stands out with a rating of 9.2. On the other hand, Humble New Tab lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.
  • Need top performance? Humble New Tab stands out with a rating of 10. On the other hand, Recall lags behind in this area with a rating of 9.
  • Design lovers, take note: Recall stands out with a rating of 9. On the other hand, Humble New Tab lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.
  • Want to get the most for your money? Humble New Tab stands out with a rating of 9.5. On the other hand, Recall lags behind in this area with a rating of 8.1.
  • If you hate complicated tools, Recall stands out with a rating of 8. On the other hand, Humble New Tab lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.5.
  • With privacy and security becoming ever more important, Humble New Tab stands out with a rating of 10. On the other hand, Recall lags behind in this area with a rating of 9.9.

If you want a quick recommendation, Recall is our top pick. But as always, the best choice depends on what matters most to you.