The Top 10 Personalized Start Pages for Your Web Browser

Open directly to a customized home page

By
Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations
Daniel Nations
Writer
  • University of Texas at Arlington
Daniel Nations has been a tech journalist since 1994. His work has appeared in Computer Currents, The Examiner, and other publications. He is a developer who has published apps in the Apple App Store, Google Play marketplace and Amazon Appstore; he also has worked as a data analyst and DB administrator.
lifewire's editorial guidelines
Updated on June 15, 2022
Reviewed by
Christine Baker
Reviewed by Christine Baker
Christine Baker is a marketing consultant with experience working for a variety of clients. Her expertise includes social media, web development, and graphic design.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

A personalized start page is a web page that you customize to show certain search engines, RSS feeds, websites, bookmarks, apps, tools, or other information. Use it to kickstart your web browsing by automatically opening a new window or tab to a page you've custom-designed with your own interests in mind.

Many tools will create a personalized start page for you, each with its own unique style. Here are 10 choices based on customizability and features. Take a look and find the one that best suits your personalized home page vision.

Once you've created a personalized start page, learn how to set it as your home page in all major web browsers, including Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.

01
of 10

Most Complete Solution: Netvibes

Netvibes website
What We Like

  • All-in-one personal dashboard.

  • Personalize your page with news, feeds, social media, and weather.

  • Free and paid plans.

  • Connect your smart devices to your dashboard.

What We Don't Like

  • Free plan offers limited features.

  • Support and analytics cost extra.

Netvibes offers a complete dashboard solution for individuals, agencies, and enterprises. Add a wide range of customizable widgets to your dashboard, and then use the Potion app to program automated custom actions. Upgrading to a paid plan offers users even more powerful options, such as tagging, autosaving, access to analytics, and more.

02
of 10

Easiest to Get Started With: Protopage

Protopage website
What We Like

  • Drag-and-drop interface acts more like a desktop than a browser screen.

  • Multi-functional search field.

  • Several RSS feed modules.

What We Don't Like

  • Limited social-media widgets.

  • Heavy on text.

  • Some websites can't be embedded.

If you're looking for a simple start page with a good variety of customizable options, Protopage has you covered. Use it to search for a variety of websites, and use its easy drag-and-drop functionality to rearrange your widgets. Protopage is a great tool if you have a few favorite blogs or news sites you like to check in with daily. Set up feeds and display their latest posts and optional photo thumbnails.

03
of 10

Best for Google Fans: igHome

igHome website
What We Like

  • Complete Google search menu bar at the top of the screen.

  • Social media integration.

  • Tabs to organize feeds and gadgets.

  • Themed wallpapers.

What We Don't Like

  • Old-fashioned format.

  • Heavily text-based.


IgHome is similar to Protopage. It reflects the look and feel of iGoogle, which was Google's personalized start page that the company discontinued in 2013. So if you're a Google fan, you'll likely enjoy igHome. This platform has a nifty menu at the top of the page that can connect to your Gmail account, Google Calendar, Google Bookmarks, YouTube, Google Drive, and more.

04
of 10

Best for Yahoo Fans: My Yahoo

My Yahoo page
What We Like

  • Customizable with themes, layouts, and interests.

  • Instant access to all Yahoo services.

  • Includes weather, stock quotes, feeds, news, and sports scores.

What We Don't Like

  • Many ads.

  • Can look cluttered.

  • Some ads are not identified clearly.

While not the trendy internet presence it once was, Yahoo is still a popular starting point for the web. My Yahoo has been around a while as a popular, customizable web portal. Now, My Yahoo integrates with some of today's most popular apps and sites, including Gmail, Flickr, YouTube, and more.

05
of 10

Best for Microsoft Fans: My MSN

My MSN start page
What We Like

  • Customize by adding or removing sections.

  • Includes human interest stories and hard news.

  • Interesting quizzes and polls.

What We Don't Like

  • Excessive ads.

  • Too much going on.

Like My Yahoo, My MSN is a start page designed for Microsoft users. Sign in with your Microsoft account, and you'll get a news page you can edit and customize. While My MSN isn't quite as customizable as other tools on this list, users can still add, remove, or shuffle news sections for specific categories around the page. Also, use the menu options at the top to access other apps, such as Skype, OneDrive, Outlook, Facebook, Office, and others.

06
of 10

Start.me

Start.me start page
What We Like

  • Modern take on the start page concept.

  • Fully customizable with widgets, websites, to-do list, weather, and news.

  • Settings for sharing or remaining private.

What We Don't Like

  • Ad-supported free account has only basic features

  • Paid upgrade required for live RSS feeds, no ads, and collaboration.

Start.me offers a great-looking front page dashboard with a modern feel. With a free account, create multiple personalized pages, manage bookmarks, subscribe to RSS feeds, use productivity tools, customize widgets, choose a theme, and import or export data from other sites and apps. It also comes with convenient browser extensions to supercharge your start page experience, and you can use and sync it across all your devices.

07
of 10

Best for Minimalists: MyStart

MyStart home page
What We Like

  • Beautiful, minimalist design.

  • Spectacular photography and chill-out music.

  • Non-obtrusive links to social media sites and web services.

  • Personalize with to-do list, notes, and games.

What We Don't Like

  • Small selection of news sources.

  • Search limited to Yahoo or Google search engines.

MyStart is a stripped-down page that highlights only the most essential, personalized features you need, including time, date, weather, and your most visited websites. Install MyStart as a web browser extension. It features a simple search field for Yahoo or Google, with a beautiful photo that changes every time you open up a new tab. MyStart is the ultimate start page for web users who prefer a simpler look.

08
of 10

Best for Chrome Users: Incredible StartPage

Incredible Start Page Chrome extension
What We Like

  • Replaces Chrome start screen with customizable theme.

  • Includes a place to take notes.

  • Access bookmarks and recently closed tabs.

  • Simple layout means no distractions.

What We Don't Like

  • Some text elements aren't visible in dark mode.

  • Search results don't seem as complete as searching through Google.

Like MyStart, Incredible StartPage also works as a web browser extension, but it's specifically for Chrome. Incredible StartPage has a unique layout, featuring a large box on the right with two smaller columns on the left and a notepad above it. Use it to organize and view all your bookmarks, apps, and most visited sites. Customize your theme with wallpapers and colors, and even post directly to Gmail or Google Calendar using the notepad feature.

09
of 10

Best Variety of Widgets: uStart

uStart home page
What We Like

  • List-style RSS feed reader included.

  • Themes and skins for customization.

  • Option to read email.

What We Don't Like

  • Covers the basics, but not much else.

  • Some background images are distracting.

If you love the look of a start page with many customizable widgets, you'll love uStart. It offers various customizable social widgets, including widgets for RSS feeds, Instagram, Gmail, and many popular news sites. Customize the look of your page with different themes, and import data from your Google Bookmarks or NetVibes account.

10
of 10

Best for Visually Oriented Users: Symbaloo

Symbaloo home page
What We Like

  • Great for visually oriented users.

  • Displays bookmarks and online resources as tiles in a grid.

  • Customize tiles with colors, icons, or images.

  • Easy to share.

What We Don't Like

  • Tile design defeats everything-at-a-glance approach of most start pages.

  • Heavily slanted toward teachers and teams.

  • Free account is ad-sponsored.

Symbaloo is a start page that takes a different approach to its layout by allowing users to see all their favorite sites in a grid-style layout of symbolized buttons. It adds and organizes popular sites into bundles by default, and you can add your own to any of the blank spaces. Add as many tabs as you want by creating "webmixes" to keep large collections of sites organized and easy to view.

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