Maxthon Browser icon
Maxthon Browser icon

Maxthon Browser

Experience a fast, secure browser featuring cloud solutions, ad-blocking, anti-IP tracking, free VPN, sync across devices, and Web3 AI tools. Maxthon offers user-controlled privacy settings, incognito mode, anti-phishing, tab management, split-screen multitasking, and more.

Maxthon Browser screenshot 1

Cost / License

  • Free
  • Proprietary

Application type

Platforms

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Android
  • iPhone
  • Android Tablet
  • iPad
2.1
Poor7 reviews
246likes
9comments
0news articles

Features

Suggest and vote on features
  1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
  2.  Website Translation
  3.  Dark Mode
  4.  Portable
  5.  Support for Gestures
  6.  Integrated Password Manager
  7.  Built-in Adobe Flash Player
  8.  Built-in Wallet
  9.  Built-in AI Assistant
  10.  Built-in RSS reader
  11.  Tabbed browsing
  12.  Built-in Download Manager
  13.  WEB3
  14.  Built-in Ad-blocker

Maxthon Browser News & Activities

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Comments and Reviews

   
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Top Positive Comment
TBayAreaPat
0

They have built-in VPN now, so I'm trying again.

Top Negative Comment
John Fastman
12

Stay well away if you value your privacy and security

Maxthon is a privacy and security disgrace.

Data harvesting

Even on Maxthon's privacy policy page they admit to harvesting far more data than they have any reasonable business in taking from users, whilst at the same time saying privacy is important. They grant themselves levels of insight into your browsing habits far beyond what is standard in the industry.

Privacy/security implications

In 2016, security researchers discovered that Maxthon did the following:

  • send private data to servers in China
  • did this even if the user opted out
  • did this over http (not https) connections, meaning that all transmitted information was transferred in a format readable to anyone along the way or at the destination.

The data Maxthon harvested in this way included visited websites, operating system details and lists of installed software. Everything you would need to help attack the Maxthon user online.

In response to this, the Maxthon CEO, Jeff Chen, said they fixed "the bug". That's bullshit. That's no bug. This is the computer equivalent of saying you're interested in motor vehicle safety whilst drugging drivers and taking away their seatbelts. The kindest thing you could say is that it's one of the greatest cases of online negligence ever committed by an online company. But that is also extremely improbable to be the correct interpretation. After all, if you can develop a browser, you know to check your data is transmitted via https.

Alternatives

Almost any browser is better. I recommend open source browsers (because they are more trustworthy). These include:

Firefox is open source, well-supported and has thousands of great add-ons. It will sync your data in encrypted form, too, so you don' t have to worry about privacy. Go for the last two if you want Chromium-compatible performance. Brave is very privacy-conscious, so it will not let you add extensions except from a very small selection.

That said, you'll be better off in security and privacy terms even with these options:

Both are fully featured. Just be sure to ask for "Do Not Track" in the settings and disable WebRTC if you use a VPN when browsing.

Cyber Nautilus

Maxthon had always been a software of Chinese (PRC) origin, and yet, in it's alternativeto.net listing it was being shown as British. Nearly seven years after John Fastman's review, I suggested that correction and happily, it is showing, indicating it's been approved.

I do not agree with 'Brave' as a "better" alternative to Maxthon -- it is as sneaky, what with mining their own crypto disguising it as some sort of incentives. And Brave's "ad-blocking" is a joke -- they get to decide which ads get blocked and which one's the user must suffer through. Not very ethical.

Duncan Briggs
5

"Two security firms have confirmed that the Maxthon web browser collects sensitive user information and sends it to its servers, even if the user opts out of such behavior."

https://news.softpedia.com/news/maxthon-browser-collects-sensitive-data-even-if-users-opt-out-506327.shtml

jaejunks
5

Be warned. Although its web browser functionality is IMO, pretty good; the software is very nosy (more nosy than Google Chrome). It sends out usage tracking to multiple servers, and there's no way to turn that off.

Tiamarth
6

I've tried editing Maxthon's information to reflect this in the past, but someone else (judging by user activity, it looks like someone from Maxthon) has changed it back.

While you can still download a version of Maxthon for Linux, it is not being updated. Maxthon officially discontinued the Linux version, and a simple search on the Maxthon Community Forums would corroborate that. Here's a post from 2015, for example, where a Maxthon admin states, "The development of Maxthon for linux has stopped. There is no plan for new versions at the moment."

I think it's important Linux users are made aware that Maxthon for Linux is no longer receiving updates so that they can avoid the inherent security concerns that accompany using old software, and especially from using an old web browser.

You can download the most recent release of Maxthon for Linux from this thread on the forums.

Other than the lack of Linux support (and the apparent desire of Maxthon employees to prevent people from knowing Linux is no longer supported) Maxthon is a decent browser.

Cyber Nautilus

And nine years later, here I am, making another such edit to remove "Linux" from supported platforms on Maxthon's alternativeto.net listing. My suggestion has been approved, and reflects in the listing.

Bitchomp
1

Maxthon is not generally that bad.

It's performance is reasonable.

It gets slow and hogs memory when you have too many tabs, just like other browsers.

The default UI is okay, but is not very customizable.

All in all, it is a reasonable browser that one might chose to use only out of frustration with the other, generally better, and more prominent ones.

I am mostly here to post a warning: the session manager will forget everything from Earlier Sessions if you close the Last Session tab. I am going back to CyberFox or FireFox, at least they have a session manager that doesn't arbitrarily destroy your data.

marcnichols
-4

This is the best browser I have ever used. I love it. Super easy to send links/files between computers and devices, it is built in.

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What is Maxthon Browser?

Maxthon Browser is a fast, secure web browser with cloud-based solutions, ad-blocking, and device synchronization. It's designed for Web3 and includes built-in tools like Notes, Password Manager, and AI. Maxthon prioritizes online privacy, offering user-controlled privacy settings, anti-IP tracking, ad-blocking, and a free VPN for a secure browsing environment. It also includes incognito mode and an anti-phishing feature for extra security.

The browser provides cross-device synchronization for a consistent browsing experience across Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows. This feature allows you to access your accounts from anywhere. Maxthon also offers features like easy tab management, multitasking split-screen, focused reading mode, a read-aloud feature, and mouse gestures for easy navigation. You can also pin the window for quick access to important information.

Official Links

Maxthon Browser information

  • Developed by

    CN flagMaxthon Ltd
  • Licensing

    Proprietary and Free product.
  • Rating

    Average rating of 2.1
  • Alternatives

    168 alternatives listed
  • Supported Languages

    • English
    • Basque
    • Bulgarian
    • French
    • German
    • Hindi
    • Indonesian
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Norwegian Bokmål
    • Portuguese
    • Panjabi, Punjabi
    • Russian
    • Chinese
    • Spanish
    • Turkish
    • Ukrainian

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Our users have written 9 comments and reviews about Maxthon Browser, and it has gotten 246 likes

Maxthon Browser was added to AlternativeTo by MaqueoWolf on and this page was last updated . Maxthon Browser is sometimes referred to as Maxthon, Maxthon Cloud Browser