Cuewise vs Bonjourr
Both are free, open source and need no account. Bonjourr is a beautiful, minimal start page; Cuewise turns the new tab into a calm place to plan and focus. Here's how they compare in 2026.
At a glance
The short version
Cuewise: a system, not a page
Goals that carry over, a Pomodoro that keeps history, reminders, insights and spaced-repetition cards — the new tab helps you plan the day, not just greet it.
Bonjourr: calm by design
A gorgeous clock, time-of-day backgrounds and just enough widgets. Deep customization down to your own CSS, in 40+ languages.
Both private & free
Open source, no account, no paid tier. The difference is how much you want your new tab to do.
Feature by feature
| Aspect | Bonjourr | Cuewise |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, donation-funded | Free — every feature |
| Open source | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Account required | Never | Only if you opt into sync |
| Browsers | Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi; Safari as a web homepage | Chrome, Edge, Brave |
| Languages | 40+ | English |
| Look & customization | Many clock faces, custom CSS & fonts, movable widgets, video backgrounds | 4 themes incl. Glass, 3 density modes, daily photos or your own image |
| Tasks & goals | Checkboxes inside a single note | Today's Focus with subtasks, history and unfinished-task carry-over |
| Focus timer | Pomodoro with today / week / month counts | Pomodoro with custom intervals, session history and heatmaps |
| Analytics | None beyond Pomodoro counts | Streaks, charts, Pomodoro heatmaps |
| Quotes | Six built-in sources, or your own list | 10 categories, favorites, collections, custom quotes, CSV import |
| Reminders | None | Repeating reminders with active hours |
| Learning & recall | None | Spaced-repetition concept cards on the new tab |
| Sounds | Pomodoro alarm | Ambient soundscapes + YouTube focus music |
| Calendar | None | Google Calendar agenda (read-only, optional) |
| Search, links & weather | Search bar, link groups with bookmark import, weather | Quick links and weather; no search bar |
| Sync | Your browser’s sync, a GitHub Gist, or a settings file | Optional end-to-end encrypted cloud sync |
| Permissions at install | Storage only | Storage, notifications, alarms, context menu, active-tab and scripting access, plus Unsplash and cuewise.app |
Where Bonjourr is stronger
Design and customization. Bonjourr is one of the best-looking new tabs there is, and it lets you shape it down to the detail: a dozen clock faces and hand styles, video backgrounds that follow the time of day, movable widgets, your own fonts and custom CSS. Cuewise offers four themes and three density modes — tasteful, but nowhere near that range.
Reach. Bonjourr runs on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave and Vivaldi, works in Safari as a web homepage, and is translated into more than 40 languages. Cuewise is Chromium-only and English-only today.
A lighter footprint. Bonjourr asks for storage at install and nothing else until you turn on a feature that needs more. Cuewise also asks for notifications and alarms (for reminders and the timer), access to Unsplash and cuewise.app (for photos and weather), and a context-menu entry with page access for saving a selection — reasonable for what it does, but more than Bonjourr needs.
Why pick Cuewise instead
Bonjourr's to-do is a set of checkboxes inside a single note, and its Pomodoro shows how many sessions you did today, this week and this month. That's deliberate — minimalism is the point — but it stops where a productivity habit starts.
Cuewise keeps going. Today's Focus holds goals with subtasks, and anything you didn't finish shows up the next day under Unfinished, with one click to move it all to today. The Pomodoro keeps every session, so Insights can show your focus trends and the hours and weekdays you focus most, alongside your goal streaks. Reminders nudge you on a schedule, concept cards resurface what you're learning when it's due, and a read-only Google Calendar agenda can sit beside your goals.
Both are local-first. If you want your setup on more than one machine, Bonjourr uses your browser's sync or a GitHub Gist; Cuewise has its own optional sync, end-to-end encrypted so the server never sees what's inside.
Also weighing Tabliss or Mue? See thefull roundup of Momentum alternatives.
FAQ
Common questions
Is Cuewise or Bonjourr better?
They do different jobs. Bonjourr is a calm, beautiful start page: a clock, a background, a few widgets. Cuewise is a small productivity system on the new tab: goals with history, a Pomodoro with heatmaps, reminders, insights and spaced-repetition cards. If you want the new tab to stay out of your way, pick Bonjourr; if you want it to help you plan and focus, pick Cuewise.
Does Bonjourr work in Safari?
Not as an extension anymore — its Safari app was discontinued in May 2026. On a Mac you can set the web version, online.bonjourr.fr, as your Safari homepage. Cuewise does not support Safari.
Can I move my Bonjourr setup to Cuewise?
There's no importer. Quick links and custom quotes take a minute to re-add, and Cuewise can bulk-import quotes from a CSV file.
Do Bonjourr and Cuewise collect my data?
Neither needs an account and both state that they don't collect what you create. Both fetch weather through their own servers so your browser never talks to a weather company. Cuewise's optional sync is end-to-end encrypted, so its server stores only ciphertext.
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Works on Chrome and Chromium browsers · No tracking · Local-first, with optional end-to-end encrypted sync