What web-browser(s) do you use and why?

[WinterOwl]

Used Firefox for years until recently I switched completely to Brave. One of the reasons for the switch was that one of the crucial websites (for me) stopped working properly in Firefox. I came to like the look of Brave more too. Also, for some reason Brave is faster in terms of loading pages.

 

[rafales1959]

Brave-origin

 

[deb_user]

The Proton extensions work in other browsers as well as Firefox. I would hate to give those up.

 

[piorunz]

I have been using Firefox since the dark ages when it first came out as Firebird/Phoenix. I have yet to find a reason to not use it.

I've been on the same boat until recently. Been using Firefox since it was in beta version, around 21 years ago.
However, in recent years Mozilla has shown they are not friend of the people, but started acting more like a greedy corporation. That's where I parted ways with them. Although, I still use temporary e-mails from Mozilla (Mozilla Relay service), paying them $1 a month. I use this despite migrating to LibreWolf. LibreWolf is a fork of Mozilla, closely tracking Firefox, but with Mozilla corp bits and telemetry removed, so I am not loosing any Firefox experience, really.

I may have forgotten about many other smaller reasons, but here are some links and quotes that made me change my mind about Mozilla:

Wikipedia:
In 2025, Mozilla received criticism after changes to the Firefox Terms of Use.

The criticism was centered around a clause that gave Mozilla a "nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license" to use any information that was uploaded or inputted into the browser. The new terms were perceived to reduce privacy, and were seen to be connected to AI, while Mozilla denied that these were the motives.
Also, Krebs on Security:
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/02/nearly-a-year-later-mozilla-is-still-promoting-onerep/

And last one for now, Mitchell Baker's salary whilst at Mozilla, that one was pretty ridiculous, getting millions out of Mozilla while Firefox market was shrinking (and is still shrinking to this day)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchell_Baker#Mozilla_Foundation_and_Mozilla_Corporation

 

[Mike-BTU]

Vivaldi on my phone, Firefox ESR (and sometimes Vivaldi) on Debian.

 

[Cyberbleuet]

Hi, I've been using Firefox for 10 years and I'm very happy with it.

 

[KGIII]

Brave Browsers built in ad blocker is baked into the browser and does not rely on the manifest 2 or 3 etc etc......and literally gives the upward pointing middle finger to google.

Which is why I use Brave for my YouTube watching.

 

[Condobloke]

AS shown in post 20 : https://www.linux.org/threads/what-web-browser-s-do-you-use-and-why.68846/post-314196
by @craigevil , I now use 'Private Grammar Checker - Harper'
i find it quicker than 'AI Grammar Checker & Paraphraser – LanguageTool'
and far less intrusive.
I run it with its default settings

Recommended.

 

[ron.alan]

@Condobloke

Here: https://www.palemoon.org/download.shtml

And for my spare computer that is not AVX compatible,
here: https://ftp2.palemoon.org/avx/linux/

 

[The Duck]

I use whatever the default browser for the distro I'm using.

No other reason.

Chromium on Easy OS.

Firefox on the rest.

I do have Seamonkey on Easy OS although it is just to busy for me way to much stuff.

I also use Palemoon on certain Puppy distros.

I stay as far away from Google Chrome as I can just don't care their shenanigans.

I use Ublock Origin with Firefox.

I use Ad Block Pius with Chromium.

Ublock Lite allows to many ads to slip by on Youtube where Ad Block Plus stops them all on Chromium.

 

[blunix]

I have just switched to the mullvad browser (via flatpak) and I'm quite happy with it. Supposedly they developed it together with the tor project, which adds good credibility in my opinion.
I "migrated" to it from librewolf, which I used before.
No, you do not need mullvad or tor to use it, can be a normal daily driver for normal internet surfing.
It does a couple of things well for privacy and adblocking, and I'm quite happy with it so far. Very much worth a look for the privacy/security focused amongst you!

 

[craigevil]

I have just switched to the mullvad browser (via flatpak) and I'm quite happy with it. Supposedly they developed it together with the tor project, which adds good credibility in my opinion.
I "migrated" to it from librewolf, which I used before.
No, you do not need mullvad or tor to use it, can be a normal daily driver for normal internet surfing.
It does a couple of things well for privacy and adblocking, and I'm quite happy with it so far. Very much worth a look for the privacy/security focused amongst you!

On Debian you can use extrepo to install the Mullvad browser stable and Beta.

 

[//////]

i think ill move to Firefox or Brave, Vivaldi is good also. depends alot of that adblock situation.

or, maybe compile my own browser ...

... i once compiled firefox from source, i had absolutely no clue what i were doing, i made it without javascript support ... it were pain to use but atleast it worked, kind of xD

its gonna be interesting to see what browser people migrate to.

 

[GatorsFan]

I use 3 browsers Firefox, Brave and Tor

 

[bob466]

It's always a good idea to have several Browsers.
I have Firefox by default...Brave...Vivaldi and Librewolf.

Sometimes youtube won't work on one but does on another.or this...which I'm getting on Brave now.

 

[wizardfromoz]

I am with @craigevil in that I go back to Firefox's birth in 2004, used it for the last 10 years I was with Windows in preference to Internet Explorer.

In 2018 I also began running Waterfox alongside it.

They both work, and I will likely stick with them.

 

[Smilax]

Brave Origin (nightly build) for financial and medical services, Brave (nightly build) for general web use, LibreWolf for testing odd behavior I experience with The Braves, and Ungoogled Chromium for all devices on my side of and including the ONT.

Why? No one particular reason, just evolved behavior that could change tomorrow if compelling enough information comes to light.

 

[ArchieLinux]

Been using Vivaldi on desktops, laptop and Android tablet. Highly configurable.

Some convenient features are the workspaces - which sync up nicely across platforms/devices. Screenshot feature is always a click away. And tabs work nicely within the workspace framework.

Works quickly, decent ad blocking options. A workhorse browser.

 

[MikeWalsh]

Been using Vivaldi on desktops, laptop and Android tablet. Highly configurable.

Some convenient features are the workspaces - which sync up nicely across platforms/devices.

Ermmm.........heh. Very much personal choices, those 'workspaces'.

I've been using them in Opera for some time now. Fantastic way of organizing/grouping tabs; Opera's implementation emulates the multiple desktops you can have under Linux.

(Don't like 'tab stacking'. Yeeuch.)

When I heard that Vivaldi was offering them, I thought I'd take a look.....but I don't like the way they've done it. I'm 'on the fence' with regards to Vivaldi. In some respects, I like it, but.....they've made some right boo-boos over the years. Like the 'internet pause' feature. Yeah, r-i-i-ighttt....

And then they offered a built-in game. WTF...???

And - it's a funny thing for a veteran Linux user to say, I know - but in some respects, it's just too 'fussy' for my liking. It has, dare I say it, just too MANY choices / options. Which for ME is saying something..!

I get lost in Vivaldi's 'Preferences'. Seriously. I really do.

Buttt.....

The huge range of choices - including all the different browsers - does mean that it'd be pretty darn surprising if most folks couldn't eventually find a selection of apps'n'stuff to suit them. Might take some doing, but.....they ARE available.

Mostly, ya just gotta look for 'em.


Mike.

 

[ArchieLinux]

I get lost in Vivaldi's 'Preferences'. Seriously. I really do.

All excellent points. And yes, the preferences can become a bit daunting.

I'll often have to use the search box to find preference setting I'm trying to change.

My daily drivers are currently all tile manager-based (i3wm recently converted to sway), so I like the way I can reproduce much of that experience in Vivaldi using vim-like keystrokes. I rarely touch a mouse, even when using the browser these days.

I do recall giving Opera a try and quickly jettisoned it... Now I don't remember what I found objectionable. :shrug: