I tried Tor once and I'm struggling to see why would anyone use it if they aren't in authoritarian country that censors interner. You can't visit a single website without being asked to solve captcha. Every single website I opened, boom, captcha.
What is the Best Firefox-based Web Browser?
- Thread starter lokamoka820
- Start date
Tor is the king when it comes to anonymity, but I'm looking here for usability and security over privacy because it will be for daily use.
I vote for LibreWolf. I downloaded it for a test and liked it a lot. The most important thing: even in the portable version, it updates itself at startup and does not require downloading and installing something separately on top of it like other portable versions of software.
Did you notice any broken websites, or you just start using it recently?
I haven't used it much. I didn't notice any problems. Overall, I liked this browser. Plus, it's one of the best in privacy, if that's important to you.
Just be sure to add some kind of phishing and malware protection add-on because Librewolf comes without any as Google Safe Browsing is disabled by default.
Disabled so it can be enabled, or it is not even exist at all?
What do you recommend? I usually use TrafficLite.
It's disabled and you need to obtain Google Safe Browsing API key if you want to enable it.
See this: librewolf.net/docs/settings/#enable-google-safe-browsing
Traffic Light or Emsisoft Browsing Security. Though, even with them you lose malware protection.
Yeah, I see. So I'd better turn on Google Safe Browsing according to the instructions on the LibreWolf website, right?
Absolutely! Google Safe Browsing gives you both, phishing and malware protection. It won't replace the antivirus software you have installed, but it's the first line of defense.
If I remember well you are a Vivaldi user, how do you compare Zen to Vivaldi (I like Vivaldi, and it will be good to find a similar browser based on Firefox engine).
I really do like both browsers, and I find myself going back and fourth on a daily driver. I like Zen because they have their own "mod store", which is just users submitted css mods. Zen add customizability that other Firefox forks don't have. (I haven't bested the Floorp 12 beta though.) Zen is the best at vertical tabs, which is something other Firefox forks just don't seem to be able to do. It really does seem like Zen is for gecko what Vivaldi is for Chromium, without the m3 that Vivaldi offers.
Thank you all for your replies, I tried the most voted browsers extensively for a week (except Pale Moon), and that was interesting, I found that all forks have better privacy options than Firefox which vary from one to the other, and some add features to extend the user experience.
Being based on an older Firefox version doesn't mean they are not secure, as mentioned by the developers they are based on (Firefox ESR) which gets the latest security updates but not the latest features, which make it more stable in theory (some Linux distro use it over normal Firefox, but Windows users don't use it).
They try to be more as an alternative to chromium based browsers over Gecko engine rather than being alternatives to Firefox itself, for example Zen more like Arc, Floorp more like Vivaldi, LibreWolf more like Brave.
WaterFox is the closest to Firefox but with better options for the end user (I think I understand now why it gets the most votes) and it has the most beautiful logo (maybe more than Firefox logo too) to be honest it is what Firefox should be, the only drawback that it was owned by an ads company in the past.
Zen is promising with its feature set and ambitious and extended team of developers behind it, it gives new ways to use the web that is not traditional at all, some will like that, and some will find it hard to change what they used to, the only drawback that it is in Beta stage yet.
LibreWolf is the most private browser among others, it even disabled some security features to be more secure (which can be enabled by checkboxes so it is not that hard), the drawbacks are missing integrated password manager (not a big deal if you use dedicated one which is recommended by LibreWolf), and "Enhanced Tracking Protection" set to "Strict" with no other options (which means you have to disable it completely for broken websites), and not having built in updater (will not be a big deal if you use update software like winget).
Floorp have options more than Vivaldi itself to customize the browser the way you like (most of them are off by default but available if you need them), and it has integrated notes and workspaces (yes Vivaldi features), and set of themes (even a chrome clone theme), and it has a company behind it so it will not suffer from funding issues, the drawback is that release notes and support in Japanese.
The real problem with Firefox based browsers is that Firefox users are mostly advanced users, which mean they can implement any modifications and customizations they need using about:config.
Anyway, it is not bad to have choices.
Being based on an older Firefox version doesn't mean they are not secure, as mentioned by the developers they are based on (Firefox ESR) which gets the latest security updates but not the latest features, which make it more stable in theory (some Linux distro use it over normal Firefox, but Windows users don't use it).
They try to be more as an alternative to chromium based browsers over Gecko engine rather than being alternatives to Firefox itself, for example Zen more like Arc, Floorp more like Vivaldi, LibreWolf more like Brave.
WaterFox is the closest to Firefox but with better options for the end user (I think I understand now why it gets the most votes) and it has the most beautiful logo (maybe more than Firefox logo too) to be honest it is what Firefox should be, the only drawback that it was owned by an ads company in the past.
Zen is promising with its feature set and ambitious and extended team of developers behind it, it gives new ways to use the web that is not traditional at all, some will like that, and some will find it hard to change what they used to, the only drawback that it is in Beta stage yet.
LibreWolf is the most private browser among others, it even disabled some security features to be more secure (which can be enabled by checkboxes so it is not that hard), the drawbacks are missing integrated password manager (not a big deal if you use dedicated one which is recommended by LibreWolf), and "Enhanced Tracking Protection" set to "Strict" with no other options (which means you have to disable it completely for broken websites), and not having built in updater (will not be a big deal if you use update software like winget).
Floorp have options more than Vivaldi itself to customize the browser the way you like (most of them are off by default but available if you need them), and it has integrated notes and workspaces (yes Vivaldi features), and set of themes (even a chrome clone theme), and it has a company behind it so it will not suffer from funding issues, the drawback is that release notes and support in Japanese.
The real problem with Firefox based browsers is that Firefox users are mostly advanced users, which mean they can implement any modifications and customizations they need using about:config.
Anyway, it is not bad to have choices.
You wrote this about LibreWolf. But you can download it from Microsoft Store. Then it will be a set and forget app.
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There are many ways mentioned in LibreWolf docs about automatic updates, for example:
Of course Microsoft Store and Package Managers (Chocolatey, winget, Scoop) are other ways to get updates too.
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