Brave 1.94 landed with a genuinely useful addition: Email Aliases on desktop, letting you generate one-off addresses without leaving the browser. It’s a smart move that closes a real gap. What it doesn’t change is why a chunk of Brave users have been looking for alternatives, which comes down to crypto rewards baked into the sidebar, Leo AI features they didn’t ask for, and the general sense that a “privacy browser” keeps shipping revenue mechanics they’d rather opt out of once and forget.
We ran seven Brave alternatives on Windows, macOS and Linux for two weeks, importing profiles from Brave, running the same set of sites, and paying close attention to what each browser turns on out of the box. Here are the seven worth trying.
Quick comparison
| Browser | Best for | Free plan | Standout | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefox | Independent engine and long-term stability | Free, no strings | Not built on Chromium | Gecko |
| LibreWolf | Firefox with defaults you’d have to set yourself | Free, community-maintained | Telemetry-free out of the box | Gecko |
| Vivaldi | Power users who tune every setting | Free with an account option | Split view, panels, tab stacks | Chromium |
| Mullvad Browser | Anti-fingerprinting without Tor | Free (VPN sold separately) | Tor Project’s uplift, Mullvad’s UX | Gecko |
| Zen Browser | Firefox with a modern face | Free, open-source | Workspaces, vertical tabs, mods | Gecko |
| Arc | Browsing as a workspace | Free | Command bar, spaces, split view | Chromium |
| DuckDuckGo Browser | Casual users who want less to configure | Free | One-tap privacy dashboard | Chromium/WebKit |
Why people leave Brave
Crypto rewards in a browser they use for work. BAT tokens, tipping, and the Brave Rewards sidebar are opt-in but they surface constantly through onboarding and updates. Users who wanted a fast Chromium fork without a crypto layer keep saying they never wanted to think about a wallet.
Leo AI feels bolted on. The Leo assistant is fine as a feature, less fine as a default that most users didn’t ask to see. It also adds another vendor relationship to a browser people picked partly to reduce vendor relationships.
Search deals and ad experiments. Brave has shipped promoted-search results and sponsored placements at various points. Each time, the community reaction has been a fresh wave of “what am I actually opting out of.”
Chromium concentration concerns. Brave uses Blink, the same engine Chrome and Edge use. As more browsers converge on Chromium, users worried about a single-engine web have started looking hard at Gecko and WebKit options.
The best Brave alternatives
Firefox, best independent engine and long-term stability
Firefox remains the most important non-Chromium browser on desktop and the reason “browser choice” still means something. Total Cookie Protection, Enhanced Tracking Protection at Strict, and Multi-Account Containers cover most of what Brave gives you by default, without needing to touch a wallet.
Where Firefox falls behind Brave is out-of-the-box aggressiveness: you’ll want to enable Strict tracking protection, install uBlock Origin, and consider Arkenfox for hardened defaults. That’s the trade for an engine that isn’t Blink.
Pricing:
- Free: everything
- vs Brave: same money, more control, worse defaults until you spend an hour setting them
Migrating from Brave: Firefox’s import tool pulls bookmarks, saved passwords, history, and cookies from Brave in one pass. Password imports land in Firefox’s built-in manager; move them to a dedicated password manager if you use one.
Download: mozilla.org
Bottom line: The right pick if independence from Chromium matters and you’re willing to configure once.
LibreWolf, best Firefox with defaults you’d have to set yourself
LibreWolf is Firefox with the privacy dials already turned. Telemetry is disabled at the source, RFP (Resist Fingerprinting) is on, DoH points at Quad9, uBlock Origin ships pre-installed, and search suggestions and Pocket are gone.
Where LibreWolf falls short is the trade-off of RFP: some sites fingerprint you as “possibly Tor” and throw extra captchas. Streaming DRM works with a click but isn’t on by default. Sync isn’t supported; you’ll want a separate tool for bookmarks across devices.
Pricing:
- Free: everything
- vs Brave: same money, tighter defaults, no crypto layer
Migrating from Brave: Import bookmarks via HTML export from Brave then Import from HTML in LibreWolf. Passwords: export from Brave as CSV, import into your password manager rather than into LibreWolf directly.
Download: librewolf.net
Bottom line: The right pick if you’d install every hardening extension anyway and want that as a starting point.
Vivaldi, best for power users who tune every setting
Vivaldi is the browser for people who wanted Opera to keep going in the direction it once did. Split view, tab stacks, tiling, mouse gestures, a built-in mail client, feed reader, and calendar all sit in one install and can be turned off cleanly if you don’t want them.
Where Vivaldi falls behind: it’s Chromium under the hood, so the engine concern applies. The UI can feel dense until you customize it, and the mail client is a full separate universe most users won’t touch.
Pricing:
- Free: full browser
- Optional account for sync (no charge)
- vs Brave: same money, more UI to master, no crypto layer
Migrating from Brave: Vivaldi’s import tool handles Brave bookmarks, history, and passwords directly. Custom search engines and saved sessions won’t move; recreate them.
Download: vivaldi.com
Bottom line: The right pick if you want a browser with panels and workflows built in, not bolted on.
Mullvad Browser, best anti-fingerprinting without Tor
Mullvad Browser is what happens when the Tor Project and Mullvad ship a Firefox fork tuned for anti-fingerprinting on the regular web. It runs everything through RFP and letterboxing, ships uBlock Origin and NoScript, and clears state at close by default.
Where Mullvad falls short: single window by design, no sync, and site breakage is real. Some banks, some captchas, and a few streaming sites will treat you as suspicious. It pairs well with Mullvad VPN but doesn’t require it.
Pricing:
- Free browser
- Optional Mullvad VPN sold separately at a flat monthly rate
- vs Brave: browser is free either way, no crypto features
Migrating from Brave: Manual only. Export bookmarks from Brave, import into Mullvad. Do not import passwords or history; the whole point of Mullvad is a clean, low-signal profile.
Download: mullvad.net/browser
Bottom line: The right pick when a Chromium alternative alone isn’t enough and you want a Firefox-based hardened default.
Zen Browser, best Firefox with a modern face
Zen Browser is a young Firefox fork that focuses on the look and feel Arc made popular: vertical tabs, workspaces, split view, and a minimal chrome. It’s early software with a fast release cycle and a community building mods and themes.
Where Zen falls short: it’s newer than the others on this list, and rough edges show up in the release notes almost every month. Sync uses Firefox Sync, which works, but expect the odd regression after an update.
Pricing:
- Free, open-source
- vs Brave: same money, modern layout, still Gecko under the hood
Migrating from Brave: Import via Firefox Sync if you already had a Firefox profile, otherwise export bookmarks HTML from Brave and import in Zen. Passwords: use a separate password manager rather than Zen’s built-in.
Download: zen-browser.app
Bottom line: The right pick if you like Arc’s ideas but want a Gecko engine and an open codebase.
Arc, best browsing as a workspace
Arc treats the browser like an OS: spaces for different projects, a command bar for switching, split view for side-by-side work, and a sidebar in place of the tab strip most browsers still ship. It’s opinionated and asks you to reorganize your habits around it.
Where Arc falls behind: The Browser Company has publicly shifted focus toward a next product line, so the release cadence for Arc itself has slowed. If long-term active development is a hard requirement, this matters. macOS is the polished tier; Windows is available; Linux isn’t.
Pricing:
- Free
- vs Brave: same money, entirely different mental model, no crypto layer
Migrating from Brave: Arc’s import handles bookmarks and passwords from Chromium browsers including Brave. Extensions install straight from the Chrome Web Store.
Download: arc.net
Bottom line: The right pick if you juggle a lot of contexts and want the browser to help sort them; less right if long-term feature growth is your priority.
DuckDuckGo Browser, best casual pick with less to configure
DuckDuckGo Browser is the low-effort option: install, and it blocks third-party trackers, hides cookie banners, encrypts to HTTPS when possible, and gives you a single Fire Button to torch the session. Search defaults to DuckDuckGo, which is the whole point.
Where the DuckDuckGo browser falls short: it’s a lighter tool than the others here. Extension support is thin (WebKit on macOS, Chromium on Windows, no Linux build). Power features from Vivaldi or the vertical-tab crowd aren’t part of the story.
Pricing:
- Free
- vs Brave: same money, less to configure, no crypto layer
Migrating from Brave: The browser imports bookmarks and passwords from Brave via the standard OS export or a direct import flow depending on platform. Extensions from Brave won’t come along on macOS.
Download: duckduckgo.com/app
Bottom line: The right pick for someone who wants sane defaults and does not want to think about browser settings again.
How to pick
Pick Firefox if you want the strongest hedge against a Chromium-only web and don’t mind spending an hour tuning defaults.
Pick LibreWolf if you already know what settings you’d change in Firefox and want that as a starting point.
Pick Vivaldi if you want split view, tab stacks, and a real mail client in one install.
Pick Mullvad Browser if fingerprinting is your primary threat and you don’t need sync or multi-window.
Pick Zen or Arc if the interface itself is what you care about, and you can live with either early-software rough edges (Zen) or slower long-term development (Arc).
Pick DuckDuckGo Browser if you want the “install and stop thinking about it” option.
Stay on Brave if Brave Search integration and its Shields tuning are working for you and you can ignore the Rewards sidebar. There’s no shame in that. The alternatives above just remove pieces you might not want.
FAQ
Is Firefox better than Brave for privacy? Firefox with Strict Enhanced Tracking Protection, Total Cookie Protection, and a solid content blocker is comparable to Brave’s out-of-the-box protection. Brave blocks more by default, Firefox gives you a non-Chromium engine. Different wins for different reasons.
Can I import my Brave data into these browsers? Yes for Chromium siblings (Vivaldi, Arc, DuckDuckGo on Chromium), which import bookmarks, passwords, and history from Brave directly. For Gecko browsers (Firefox, LibreWolf, Zen, Mullvad), export bookmarks as HTML from Brave and re-import; move passwords through a dedicated password manager rather than direct import.
What is the best free Brave alternative? All seven above are free. Firefox is the most complete free alternative overall; LibreWolf is the best “Firefox with tighter defaults”; Vivaldi is the best free power-user browser.
Which Brave alternative doesn’t use Chromium? Firefox, LibreWolf, Mullvad Browser, and Zen Browser all use Gecko. Vivaldi, Arc, and DuckDuckGo (on Windows) use Chromium.
Do these browsers block ads like Brave does? LibreWolf and Mullvad ship uBlock Origin by default. Firefox and Zen recommend installing it after the fact. Vivaldi has a built-in blocker plus tracker protection. Arc uses uBlock Origin via the Chrome Web Store. DuckDuckGo Browser blocks third-party trackers and can hide most cookie banners.
Which alternative is easiest to switch to from Brave? Vivaldi, Arc, and DuckDuckGo on Chromium have the smoothest import (bookmarks, passwords, extensions in one pass). Firefox is a five-minute import if you’re comfortable moving passwords through a manager.
