Battle Firefox vs. Brave vs. Vivaldi

Which browser—Firefox, Brave, or Vivaldi—is your favorite?

  • Firefox

    Votes: 41 46.6%
  • Brave

    Votes: 36 40.9%
  • Vivaldi

    Votes: 11 12.5%

  • Total voters
    88
Compare list
Firefox vs. Brave vs. Vivaldi
Platform(s)
  1. Any platform
I don't trust Brave. The past incidents left scars. In the same way, DDG was caught allowing Microsoft trackers. Firefox, too, was sending (pinging) what you default browser is to Mozilla.
I trust none; Brave is just fast, resources-friendly, stable, and has a nice adblocker.
But all will sell you for an extra penny.
 
I trust none; Brave is just fast, resources-friendly, stable, and has a nice adblocker.
But all will sell you for an extra penny.
Privacy is a dream. In this era one can never obtain it. Some of my friends brag about using open source software and Linux instead of Windows and they forgot that they are running open source software on a closed source hardware.

My main browser is Vivaldi and it is less evil. My secondary browser is Waterfox now and it is good to some extent. Edge is no longer a browser and it is too bloated. Chrome is my enemy.

I hope Helium keeps improving. And I hope it never loses its way.
 
Privacy is a dream. In this era one can never obtain it. Some of my friends brag about using open source software and Linux instead of Windows and they forgot that they are running open source software on a closed source hardware.

My main browser is Vivaldi and it is less evil. My secondary browser is Waterfox now and it is good to some extent. Edge is no longer a browser and it is too bloated. Chrome is my enemy.

I hope Helium keeps improving. And I hope it never loses its way.
Does Brave Shields work well on the Waterfox browser? Are there any compatibility issues?
 
Brave with adblocker at standard and no extensions Screenshot 2026-07-06 030344.jpgScreenshot 2026-07-06 030608.jpg vs Edge with no extensions
 
I confirm that Waterfox does ship with Brave Shields, but not as an extension. Adblock-rust is compiled directly into Waterfox's main process loop.

As for licensing, Brave is distributed under MPL-2.0. Since Waterfox is a Firefox fork, this aligns perfectly with Brave licensing.
 
I confirm that Waterfox does ship with Brave Shields, but not as an extension. Adblock-rust is compiled directly into Waterfox's main process loop.

As for licensing, Brave is distributed under MPL-2.0. Since Waterfox is a Firefox fork, this aligns perfectly with Brave licensing.
But there is a catch! By default Waterfox adblocker does allow non-tracking, text-based ads to display on Waterfox default search engine (1.org)

Edit.

1.org is also owned by System1. System1 acquired Waterfox, but Waterfox went independent again under BrowserWorks.
 
@Parkinsond
How has your experience with Zen Browser been so far?
I have used it for 3 days. Insane memory and could consumption. I hated that it starts with Windows by default. I do not see any reason to use it. It is still not mature and I'd persoanlly use Vivaldi over it.

If one wants Firefox, then it is either Waterfox or Floorp for now.
 
I just discovered that the search field in the Vivaldi browser has the same Firefox feature that lets you temporarily change the search engine by clicking on the search engine icon instead of remembering shortcuts. This is one of my favorite Firefox features. Well done, Vivaldi.

View attachment 298654
I don't know if it's possible in Brave, but in Firefox you type @g -> press Enter and it searches Google. You type @b -> press Enter and it starts searching Bing. I love that!
 
I don't know if it's possible in Brave, but in Firefox you type @g -> press Enter and it searches Google. You type @b -> press Enter and it starts searching Bing. I love that!
I believe it is also available in Chromiim-based browsers too. You go to search engines settings and assign shortcuts there. I have not personally tried it as I just use DDG.

Vivaldi uses nicknames to search engines
And brave assigns shortcuts and so on.
 
I don't know if it's possible in Brave, but in Firefox you type @g -> press Enter and it searches Google. You type @b -> press Enter and it starts searching Bing. I love that!
I believe it is also available in Chromiim-based browsers too. You go to search engines settings and assign shortcuts there. I have not personally tried it as I just use DDG.

Vivaldi uses nicknames to search engines
And brave assigns shortcuts and so on.
Yes, all browsers have shortcuts assigned to change the search engine for a one-time search. However, I am referring to the fact that in Firefox and Vivaldi, you can click the search engine icon to reveal a dropdown menu listing all predefined search engines in your browser settings. This makes switching between them much more convenient. Perhaps my screenshot was unclear because it was small, but here is what I mean:

2026-07-07 17_31_03-.png2026-07-07 17_32_07-Greenshot.png