The finest web browsers make it simple and straightforward to manage privacy and security as well as online content exploration.

Some will provide choices for customization and customisation. Some will make a greater demand on your system resources, while others have a minimal effect on system memory.

While some anonymous browsers allow cookies and advertisements to run unrestricted, others include full security toolkits to safeguard your online identity.
Currently, browsers are even more crucial for people who are still working from home or changing employment, thus it has been up to various vendors to release features that creatively address these needs.

However, these are by no means your only alternatives, and there are many good reasons to consider other browsers besides the well-known brands.

These browsers have been contrasted in a number of areas, including user interface, security, speed, and system requirements. We considered a variety of aspects, including the operating systems that the browsers support, their general usability, and their capacity to be customised.

Discover the ideal one for you by continuing to read our comprehensive guide. The finest backup software and the best VPN for businesses have also been examined. However, keep in mind that all of these browsers are currently free (you once had to pay for them), so you can always download them all and test them out at your leisure before making a decision.

Microsoft Windows Edge

Readers who are older may recall Microsoft as the antagonists of the Browser Wars, which finally paved the way for the ascent of Firefox and Chrome. However, Microsoft has switched sides and rebuilt its Edge browser with Chromium at its core. Versions are available for iOS, Android, and Mac in addition to being the default browser for Windows.

The new Chromium-powered version is significantly faster than its forerunner and comes with some useful features like Read Aloud, the ability to cast media to Chromecast devices like inline videos, an Opera-style start page, and a good selection of add-ons like password managers, ad-blockers, and so forth. You can also download web pages as standalone apps that you can operate without opening the entire browser. That’s helpful for applications like Twitter or Google Docs.

There are many customization possibilities, but the Privacy and Services page, which makes potentially ambiguous settings crystal apparent, and the Site Permissions page stood out to us in particular. This allows you to fine-tune the actions that particular websites can take, such as barring ads and pop-ups as well as MIDI device access and video autoplay.

Although Edge is similar to Chrome in appearance and functionality, we prefer it because of its excellent customization possibilities and substantially faster performance on our Mac.

Google Chrome

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Google must be feeling fairly good about itself given that Microsoft has chosen to use the Chromium engine for its own Edge browser.

However, there are several areas where Microsoft’s rival really outperforms Google, most notably in terms of resource utilisation. Chrome is notorious for its high resource requirements and may perform quite slowly on older hardware and RAM. (albeit more on Windows than ChromeOS, queue conspiracy theories).

Although Chrome continues to be somewhat resource-hungry, the new Tab Freezing feature is intended to remedy this by automatically “freezing” background tabs to prevent them from wasting resources unnecessarily.

By no means is Chrome a subpar browser. Contrary to popular belief, it is a fantastic browser with a fantastic add-on library, cross-platform support and sync, amazing autofill features, and some excellent tools for web developers.

It supports safe DNS lookup for compatible providers (Google’s own Public DNS is one of them) and may alert you if your email has been compromised. It also filters a lot of hazardous mixed content, such as scripts and images, over otherwise secure connections.

The WebXR API for AR and VR is also enabled. Don’t overlook Chrome’s dark mode either, which makes browsing more comfortable at night.

These are all excellent options, but we believe Firefox offers better privacy protection, Edge is more pleasant to use, and other specialised browsers do not instill the nagging worry that Google is slightly meddling in all of our lives.

Firefox Browser

Our preferred browser and the Swiss Army Knife of the internet is Firefox. It can notify you in the event that a known data breach involves your email address, disable those irksome allow-notifications popups, prevent “fingerprinting” browser tracking, and add its picture-in-picture video option to the Mac version.

As previously, there are several extensions and plugins you may apply to alter both the aesthetic and functionality of the website. Its performance, which had been lagging behind competitors like Chrome, was much improved by an update carried out the previous year. Now, it runs smoothly and stably on even relatively basic hardware.

Even while Firefox is still our favourite browser at the moment, we are concerned for its future. With a significant add-on crisis in May, Peter Saint-Andre and Matthew Miller argued that 2019 wasn’t the best year for Mozilla since it “was the result of having an interlocking set of complex systems that were not well understood across the relevant teams.”

The lack of internal quality assurance teams was also brought up; a large portion of Mozilla’s QA is outsourced, and early in 2020, it was rumoured that the QA leads were fired as part of a round of layoffs. If you value Firefox, you might wish to visit donate.mozilla.org(opens in new tab) to support Mozilla’s financial stability.

Opera Browser

Opera makes a strong first impression as soon as you launch it. You can activate its built-in ad blocker, utilise its built-in VPN, enable its Crypto Wallet for cryptocurrencies, enable in-browser chat from the sidebar, and switch between light and dark modes from the splash screen.

It’s a fantastic start to an excellent browser, but if you’re a gamer, you should check out Opera GX(opens in new tab), which is made with gamers in mind and has Twitch integration and Razer Chroma compatibility.

Another Chromium-based browser, Opera offers quick performance and support for Chrome library add-ons. It also has some intriguing original ideas, like Flow, which is made for people who frequently come across content they want to refer to later. If you frequently email or message yourself interesting links, Flow makes it easier for you to do so in a more elegant way by making it simple to share content from Opera on your phone to Opera on your computer.

The firm wants to make sure that it’s the all-in-one browser for as many customers as possible, so it recently released the R5 version with a streamlined appearance and more integrated apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger.

Recently, they added the browser to Google Chromebooks, giving owners and prospective students more options when shopping for a laptop for their studies. Additionally, they are considering Windows 11 and how the new store can benefit them in the near future.

One of our favourite Opera features, Opera Turbo, which compresses internet data like photos so that things load faster on slow connections, is no longer available for desktop browsers. Instead, it is only available for mobile browsers. Opera is stuffed with useful features. However, you do get a useful power saving mode, so at least you won’t have to worry about your laptop battery dying while your downloads are slow.

It has made enormous strides in recent years, and with its emphasis on providing for a wide range of users—from gamers to students—it will be a browser to watch in 2021.

Brave

Web browser Brave places a big emphasis on security and privacy. This internet browser offers you advanced choices for activating HTTPS Everywhere and eliminating browser fingerprinting, and by default it blocks advertising, cookies, phishing, and malware.

If you’re the type of person who worries about internet privacy, all of these security choices ought to help you feel more at ease. In addition to making online pages load far more quickly than on other browsers, these security precautions.

The Basic Attention Token, which Brave uses as its cryptocurrency, distinguishes it from other web browsers. (BAT). An integrated software wallet for storing BAT tokens is part of the Brave browser. When you see content in the browser created by website owners or other online creators, you may use these tokens to give them money. By allowing Brave-run adverts while browsing, users can also earn BAT.

In addition to iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Brave is accessible on Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs.