Brave
Fast, secure browser integrating ad and tracker blockage, privacy features, and VPN. Offers seamless performance with data and battery optimization, faster loads by blocking pop-ups and ads. Safeguards user privacy with tracking protections and built-in brave search.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android
- iPhone
- Android Tablet
- iPad
- Snapcraft
- Flathub
- Homebrew
- Chocolatey
Features
Brave News & Activities
Recent News
- Maoholguin published news article about Brave Search
Brave Search introduces AI Chat mode, allowing follow-up questions without new searchesBrave Search has unveiled a new chat mode within Brave Search, enhancing the previously introduced ...
- POX published news article about Brave VPN
Brave VPN adds more servers and expands cost-saving annual subscriptions to desktopBrave has rolled out significant updates to its built-in VPN service, enhancing both desktop and mo...
- Maoholguin published news article about Brave Leo
Brave launches 'Bring Your Own Model' feature for desktop to integrate custom AI modelsWith the release of Brave version 1.69, desktop users can now integrate their own AI models into th...
Recent activities
POX added Brave as alternative to Beaker browser- K0RR reviewed Brave
It doesn't have proper profile sync. You need to have at least two devices to use it. I want to back up my browser, so just let me specify access token to Nextcloud or something.
What is Brave?
Brave Videos
Brave information
Developed by
Brave Software IncLicensing
Open Source (MPL-2.0) and Free product.Written in
Rating
Average rating of 4.1Alternatives
236 alternatives listedNews
39 news article related to BraveSupported Languages
AlternativeTo Categories
Web Browsers, Security & Privacy, Education & Reference, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency, File SharingApple AppStore
- Updated Dec 4, 2024
- 4.79 avg rating
GitHub repository
- 18,286 Stars
- 2,406 Forks
- 8238 Open Issues
- Updated Jan 18, 2025
Comments and Reviews
The king of all Chromium-based browsers! Blocks ads and really nice to use.
People who know about privacy know this is b.s. - there is no more anonymity in Brave than in Chrome if you know what to do and (on the other side) when you know what to track. As for the claim on their homepage no less than it is 20x faster than Chrome or Firefox, b.s., as well I tested it and it doesn't load even 2x times faster. The biggest con is that the wooper-dooper integrated ad filter is so bad that it breaks pages while at the same time allowing dozens of pop ups and pop unders that even the most basic extension for Firefox or Chrome can block perfectly. Also, full of small crappy details, such as not being able to change the new tab page which shows a new random image over the interwebs (with no possibility to select the thematic/category at least) and a bean-counter's wet dream of numbers showing how many ads it (absolutely imperfectly) blocked (this tracks all the ads, pretty ironic for a browser bragging about privacy). Just to be clear: this disastrous bloatware new tab is NON NEGOTIABLE, you cannot disable it, not even through under the hood flags. Nothing. Better love to see every time a crappy stock photo and how many ads Brave failed to completely block, Bucko. In summary, much ado about nothing. At this time it's neither more safe nor faster than any big name browser.
As of Oct 2021 Version 1.31.87 you can definitely change the new tab page to blank if you wish to. I've been following the progress of Brave for some time and it has been improving steadily. In many reviews it's ranked just behind the top guns, but the beauty of Brave it is ready to run with the best security settings already set, whereas with most other browsers you need to do a lot of tweaking.
Reply written Oct 30, 2021
You can change the start tab to anything in the settings or using an extension. The browser fingerprint is changed every time. Also Brave allows for a smaller attack surface as it eliminates the need for some privacy extensions. It is definitely better than google chrome as google is one of the biggest data collecting companies.
Reply written Dec 9, 2022
You may want to try Brave again as your experience is now 4 years old. It would be good to see your perspective comparing Brave 4 years later. I would also encourage you to use EFF's Cover Your Tracks test on your favorite browsers and Tor and Firefox and LibreWolf and of course Brave. Brave is the only browser I have found that can consistently pass the EFF test.
Reply written Sep 7, 2023
I only started using Brave in 2023 as my browser for some websites (such as gvmnt sites) that work better on stock Chrome, having tried it earlier and not liking it. Now it is quite a good browser. Not the best, but mots of your problems are not present.
Brave Shields isn't as good or robust as uBlock Origins, but it is quite decent, and will still work after Manifest V3. If you need Chrome, it's probably the best option currently, aside from Edge on Windows (for security, not privacy).
No, Brave does not provide anonymity. If they advertise that (I haven't seen it), they should be docked a star. No browser really provides anonymity on its own, with Tor at least being the best. Brave does not protect against fingerprinting, like most privacy browsers. But neither does Firefox, even with Arkenfox.js. The best option for usability currently with some fingerprinting protection would be Mullvad, ideally if people would all get together and decide on like 3 extensions they would all use, and nothing else (i.e. bitwarden, anonaddy, ublock).
Reply written Jun 21, 2024
It doesn't have proper profile sync. You need to have at least two devices to use it. I want to back up my browser, so just let me specify access token to Nextcloud or something.
Firefox is better when it comes to desktop browsers, but I see Brave as better on mobile in terms of security. Otherwise the best Chromium-based browser on the market. See here for recommended preferences to change: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/mobile-browsers/#recommended-brave-configuration
Best pro privacy chrome based browser. Period.
It's a nice and fast browser, with besides soma minor issues provides a good alternative for other browsers, aspecially for daily use.
The main drawbacks are: no advanced configuration, no integration with (for example) tor, AI and web tools
My chromium browser of choice. I'm a fan of Firefox, but when I do need a Blink based browser for testing, it would be Brave. Yes, I avoid Google's and Microsoft's telemetry.
The browser is snappy and not overloaded with functionality that I don't need, like Vivaldi (it is good but I won't need all the features). To be efficient on system resources, tabs that are not used in a while will be suspended until you go back to them.
What makes it more appealing is Brave Search, which is no longer dependent on Bing/Google. Though the options are still there as a fallback.
Plus, BAT crypto currency for viewing ads is a great idea, as a way to reward you. I get it, free services need advertising to support it, but I don't want to be tracked or have personalised advertising. So, yeah, this is good.
An additional bonus is the baked in Brave Shields, which blocks trackers.
Very happy with this browser.
EDIT: Correcting a lot of typos