A web browser is a software program used for accessing websites on the internet and displaying that information. In short, they translate web sites and web pages into human-readable content. There are several web browsers out there, and perhaps the more commonly used are the preinstalled browsers. Did you know there are other options available?
As discussed in 7 Alternative Search Engines To Consider, we elaborate on privacy violations with big tech, and how to better protect your privacy while bypassing censorship. The following consists of a few of our favorite alternative web browsers for greater performance, privacy, customization and security. They are equally great for testing and debugging issues with web sites and web applications.
Tor
The Tor browser (torproject.org) perhaps the greatest security and privacy, with multi-layered encryption while circumventing censorship. Their mission revolves around human rights and freedoms through anonymity and privacy technologies. They isolate each website visited to avoid tracking. Cookies and browsing history are automatically cleared when done browsing. They also offer multi-layered encryption, as your traffic is relayed and encrypted several times when passing over the Tor network, making this browser an excellent choice for privacy and security.Firefox
The Firefox browser (mozilla.org) offers DNS over HTTPS (DoH), which helps prevent service providers from collecting and selling your data. They have built-in blockers for autoplay, social trackers and cookies. Their web developer tools are extremely handy for debugging and designing websites and applications. They offer a built-in password manager which is nice, but recommended to secure with an additional account credentials. They also offer customizable themes, flexibility on adding or configuring alternative search engines, and many other options both built in and through add-on extensions.Waterfox
The Waterfox browser (waterfox.net) is based on Mozilla’s open source platform. They are another great browser that is highly customizable while offering faster browsing with strong privacy and security. They do not track any usage information and have very limited data collection that is specific to upgrades only. They support NPAPI plugins, bootstrap add-ons and custom code (JS/CSS) changes for greater flexibility. They have a very stable API, helping to avoid issues with obsolete extensions. Their features are completely open to the user for determining what plugins or extensions they wish to run. They support Java applets, Silverlight apps, and/or bootstrapped add-ons for functionality changes, making them an excellent source for power users.
UR
The UR browser (ur-browser.com) is built with Chromium, but with all the built-in Google trackers removed. UR Offers, anti-tracking, anti-profiling, a VPN, and many more features. They block third-party cookies and trackers from grabbing your information, often used for analytics or advertising. In addition, they offer several private browsing features, such as a Ninja mode for an immediate clearing of any tracking data. The search engines they have incorporated are better when it comes to censorship and privacy, plus it’s highly customizable to modify or add any search engines. They also have built in alerts to notify you of any suspected phishing or malware websites, before actually entering the site. It’s extremely fast and reliable.
Vivaldi
The Vivaldi browser (vivaldi.com) is another highly customizable browser. They offer several features such as a customizable web panel, themes, notes, screen capture, image properties and more. They are optimized for performance and offer several features for viewing video. They have a history reporting feature, which is nice if you wish save and utilize your browsing history for personal analysis or recollection. They also allow for Instagram posting from your desktop which is a great feature, that was only previously available via the Safari browser. For those that like to geek out, there are several other technical features available.
Brave
The Brave browser (brave.com) is optimized for performance, has built-in ad blocking feature and is equally great with privacy. They have integrated IPFS into their desktop browser, which is a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed for faster and safer browsing. They claim to be three times faster than Chrome with greater privacy than Firefox (debatable). The browser is based on Chrome. They do a great job of memory management for performance. They also offer a browsing reward feature, but this likely has an impact on privacy, so use at your own risk.
Opera
The Opera browser (opera.com) claims to offer faster browsing as they utilize less processing capacity, then other traditional browsers. We appreciate the speed in which this browser has to offer. Although, it is likely very close in comparison to the other browsers listed here, depending on the type of activity. They also have built-in features such as, ad blockers, search, page zooming and messengers. They also have several customizable themes. Another additional and nice feature is that they offer a free VPN option to help reduce online tracking and provide additional privacy.
These are a few of the many browsers available to help with privacy and security. We also recommend using a VPN (virtual private network), especially when on a shared or unsecured network. A VPN essentially creates a separate tunnel for sending and receiving network traffic, keeping all your information private. It can also alter your location for greater privacy. When researching VPN providers it’s recommended to review their privacy and security features to ensure minimal tracking on their end. We’ll expand more on VPN’s in a future post.
