# Tabs or Sidebar
> Persistent navigation is for destinations users switch between. Everything else is a link.

## Situation

How many destinations, and how often do people switch?

## Decision

### Use Tabs when

You have a handful of peer destinations and people jump between them constantly. Tabs keep every option visible without spending a column of the screen.

- Three to five peer destinations
- Hierarchy is mostly flat
- Frequent switching within one context
- Horizontal space matters
- Growth is unlikely

### Use Sidebar when

You have many destinations, often in groups, and people work across sections all day. A sidebar has room for labels, grouping, and growth.

- More than five destinations, or groups of them
- Labels need reading, not guessing
- Frequent work across sections
- The roadmap adds destinations
- Desktop-first product

**The numbers:** Tabs: 3–5 peer destinations, switched many times per session. Sidebar: 6+ destinations, any grouping, or a roadmap that adds sections. If the labels don’t fit in one row at your smallest breakpoint, it’s a sidebar.

## Why

People switch between these five areas all day and we don’t expect more, so tabs keep everything one click away without giving up a column of the screen.

## Edge cases

A product with 4 sections today and 12 planned. Choose the sidebar now: moving navigation later retrains every user.

Source: https://www.designdecisions.dev/cards/tabs-sidebar
Author: Alex Dovhyi