Have you ever searched for a browser tailor-made for web developers? Well, we have the right option for you! Let’s introcude you to Polypane, a browser that’s built with web developers in mind!
As someone who values efficient and effective web development, I’m excited to dive deep into this innovative browser.
Polypane isn’t just any browser; it’s a powerhouse for developers, designers, QA experts, and marketers. This browser simplifies the complex task of creating responsive, accessible, and high-quality websites.
In this review, I’m going to talk all about Polypane and all its tools that help you make your work faster, like tools for checking different screen sizes and testing if your site is easy for everyone to use. It’s really good whether you’re working on a tiny phone screen or a huge computer screen.
So, if you want to make great websites quickly and without much trouble, keep reading. Polypane is not just a regular browser, it’s a whole set of tools that makes websites a lot better.
Let’s explore it together!

What is Polypane?
Polypane is specialized web browser software designed with web developers in mind. This application is particularly valuable for developers as it allows them to test and debug websites across various devices and browsers simultaneously.
This feature eliminates the need to switch between different testing environments, saving considerable time and effort.
The software’s user-friendly interface provides a synchronized view of a website on multiple devices. This helps developers quickly spot and fix any inconsistencies, enhancing the efficiency of the web development process.
Polypane isn’t just about simulating how a site looks on different devices; it includes a wide array of tools specifically for web development.

Some of the key features of Polypane include the ability to take full-page screenshots, access tools for testing website accessibility, and use over 24 different debugging tools.
These functionalities are all integrated into one platform, making the development process smoother and more cohesive.
Polypane also has a live-reload feature, which means any changes made to a website are immediately visible across all emulated devices, further streamlining the development workflow.
The best part is that Polypane receives updates approximately every month, bringing users a consistent stream of new features, bug fixes, and various improvements to enhance their experience.
So, if you’re making websites and want a tool that makes your work easier and faster, Polypane is worth checking out. It’s clear that it’s been built by someone who really gets what web developers need.
How does Polypane work?
Polypane is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. It has different versions that work with all types of computer chips, like Intel, Apple Silicon, and ARM.
For Linux users, there are two formats to choose from: a .deb file and an .AppImage. This means that no matter what kind of computer you have, you can use Polypane.
Polypane works like having many different browsers open at the same time for your website. Each browser can be set up differently to test how your site looks and works on various devices, like phones or laptops.
When you scroll or click in one browser, it happens in all the others, too, so you don’t have to repeat the same actions everywhere.
Polypane also checks your website’s code and setup (like CSS and HTML) to find and point out any issues. This makes it easier to make sure your website works well and looks good on all kinds of devices.
Features of Polypane
A Comprehensive Tool for Responsive Design and Testing

Polypane offers developers and designers a powerful platform to significantly enhance the productivity and quality of their work.
With features like responsive design views across all devices, extensive accessibility testing, synced interactions across multiple panes, and intuitive design and debugging tools, it provides everything needed to create responsive, accessible, and visually appealing websites.
You can develop sites in light and dark modes simultaneously in a synced view. It gives the facility to edit all panes simultaneously with the Elements panel and Live CSS editor.
Thus, offers a more efficient workflow by allowing real-time edits across multiple views, speeding up the design process.
Polypane provides a robust set of tools for detailed website analysis and troubleshooting, improving the quality of the final product. It helps optimize how content appears on social media and catches any errors in meta tags early in the development process.
Its focus on efficiency, user experience, and comprehensive testing makes it an essential tool for modern web development and design professionals.
Extensive array of debugging and emulation tools

Polypane offers a robust suite of accessibility (A11y) tools that are invaluable for developers and designers committed to creating inclusive and accessible web experiences.
Its comprehensive features include color blindness simulators that cover eight different types, allowing for thorough testing of visual accessibility.
Additionally, its color contrast testing automatically identifies elements with insufficient contrast and even suggests improved color options.
The platform conducts over 80 automated A11y tests, providing actionable feedback aligned with WCAG 2.1 standards, which is crucial for meeting accessibility guidelines.
The tool’s outline panel visualizes page structure, highlighting issues like broken links, incorrect header orders, and focus order problems, making it easier to create well-structured and navigable websites.
The element inspector provides immediate accessibility information for each element, such as contrast ratios, accessible names, and roles, enhancing the developer’s ability to create user-friendly interfaces.
Makes sure the site’s quality is not compromised

Polypane lets developers test their websites on lots of different devices at the same time, which saves a lot of time.
You can also check if your website is easy for everyone to use, including people with disabilities. The tool comes with 40 different debug tools, including simulators for color blindness and dyslexia, which are great for making sure your site is accessible to everyone.
It can also help you improve color contrasts on your site by suggesting better color combinations, and it tests for layout issues like horizontal overflow – which means making sure everything fits on the screen without unnecessary scrolling.
Polypane also gives you pixel-perfect previews of how your site will look in both dark and light modes when shared on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Polypane comes with an outline panel that automatically checks for broken links on your site, which is really useful for making sure all your links work properly.
This panel can also help you get the perfect structure for your site by showing you things like headings and document outlines.
Integrations offered by Polypane?
Polypane offers a variety of integrations to enhance your web development workflow.
These integrations are designed to work seamlessly with tools and services you’re already familiar with, making your process more efficient and streamlined.
1. Website Builders

Polypane supports website builders like Tumult Hype and Tumult Whisk. With Tumult Hype, you can preview interactive web content and animations at specified breakpoints.
Tumult Whisk allows you to preview your pages in multiple panes and automatically reloads when files change.
2. IDEs
For those using JetBrains WebStorm, Polypane integrates to automatically open when you start your development server.
It updates the existing panes in place and enables remote debugging from your IDE, offering features like live reloading and JavaScript debugging.
3. Bug Reporting Tools

Polypane simplifies your QA process by allowing you to send bug reports directly from its interface. For example, with Marker.io integration, you can take screenshots of specific parts of your page and send them to your favorite bug tracker.
4. Hand-off Tools
The Polypane Browse panel keeps all your favorite hand-off tools open, ensuring that your design and specs are always visible while implementing designs.
5. Browser Extensions
You can install your favorite browser extensions in Polypane. These extensions, like Visbug and 1Password, work across all your panes and the browse panel, maintaining their usual functionality.
6. Devtools Extensions

Polypane is compatible with many devtools extensions, with built-in support for popular ones listed in the Chrome extension store.
This feature further enhances the development and debugging capabilities within Polypane.
Free Tools by Polypane
Color Contrast Checker

This tool in Polypane helps make sure the colors on a website are easy to see. It uses special rules (from WCAG 2 and APCA) to measure how different the colors are from each other.
The checker even considers how see-through the colors are to give a real idea of how they look. This helps make websites easier to read for everyone.
CSS Selector Specificity

This is about deciding which style to use when there’s more than one option for a part of a website.
Each style choice has a ‘specificity’ score based on things like IDs or classes used in the CSS code. The one with the highest score wins and gets used.
This helps websites look consistent and as intended.
Experimental Chromium Web Platform Features:
Polypane includes new and experimental features that aren’t officially part of web standards yet.
These features can be tested in Polypane, while other browsers might require you to change some settings to try them out.
This is useful for developers to experiment with new web technologies before they become mainstream.
Pricing Plans
Polypane offers different pricing plans suitable for various needs. All plans come with a 14-day free trial with full app access, and the best part is there is no credit card required for the free trial.

The yearly plan provides 2 months free. Thus, after using the free trial, you can opt for the yearly plan, which gives you 2 months free.
Plan | Monthly Plan | Yearly Plan | Suitable For |
---|---|---|---|
Individual | $11/month | $9/month | Freelancers, solo developers, personal projects. Includes full app access, use on 3 computers, frequent updates, and email support. |
Business | $47/month | $39/month | Teams with up to 10 users. Offers everything in Individual plus live chat support, priority feature requests, user access management, and centralized billing. |
Enterprise | $332/month | $332/month | Large companies with multiple teams. Includes 20+ users, custom billing options, single sign-on, and training/onboarding. |
Polypane Customer Support
Polypane offers users a variety of support and communication channels to ensure a seamless experience.
Users can access immediate assistance through live chat, connecting directly with the Polypane team. Additionally, a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section addresses common queries.
For community interaction and peer support, there’s a Slack community available, allowing users to engage with fellow Polypane enthusiasts.
Staying updated with the latest developments is made effortless by following Polypane on Twitter, where regular updates are shared.
Their blogs are regularly updated with the latest from Polypane. I found their blog and docs section quite helpful as there are videos that explain all the features, and I was able to get the solution to the problem easily.
My Experience with Polypane
Although I am not a full-time web developer, Polypane has become an invaluable tool for me. It saves me both time and money in various ways.
One of the most significant benefits is its ability to help me quickly evaluate themes from marketplaces like ThemeForest.
Instead of maintaining multiple devices for testing at various resolutions, I can effortlessly run theme demos in Polypane, simultaneously checking desktop and mobile views.
This has prevented me from making costly theme purchases that might not have suited my needs. Additionally, Polypane aids in effectively communicating with my clients.
It allows me to showcase issues on their websites, especially when they predominantly view them on desktop, and propose more mobile-friendly solutions.
Polypane is unique because it combines website design, development, testing, and accessibility checking all in one tool.
It keeps getting better with new features added regularly, which is great. Plus, the person who made Polypane, Kilian Valkhof, is easy to reach and very helpful.
The Polypane website also has lots of extra tools and information in the blog section, making it even more useful. In short, Polypane has been really important in helping me improve websites and do checks on them.
Polypane Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Feature-rich with time-saving browser extensions, including a valuable student-free option.
- Developer-centric with a plethora of UI/UX tools.
- Supports multi-viewport, live reloading, developer tools integration, and side-by-side layout for web-based software development.
- Rapidly identifies size and alignment issues across multiple breakpoints on a single screen, reducing manual testing time.
Cons:
- The usability of Windows 11 Desktop can be improved.
- Some integration issues with Visual Studio Code.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have a strong positive impression of Polypane and recommend it, especially to developers.
Its visually pleasing design and robust functionality make it a standout choice. Developers will particularly appreciate its extensive feature set, which departs from the conventions of traditional browsers.
It’s fast, and you can see multiple views at once. Plus, the people who make Polypane are good at managing its memory, so it runs smoothly.
Overall, I recommend Polypane because it’s easy to use and has powerful features, and developers will find it handy for their work in web development and design.
Related: