Firefox vs. Brave: Which is the better browser for you?
Just like the Firefox browser, the Brave browser is free, open source and focused on protecting users’ privacy. Brave is a relative newcomer to the world of browsers: its maker, Brave Software, first debuted the browser in January 2016. In this article we’ll compare our Firefox browser with the Brave browser in three categories: privacy, utility and portability.
Mục lục bài viết
Security and Privacy
Security and Privacy
Private Browsing mode
Blocks third-party tracking cookies by default
Blocks cryptomining scripts
Blocks social trackers
The Brave browser, like so many others, is built on the open-source Chromium code by Google. Open-source means anyone can use the source code and piggy-back on top of it to build whatever they want — like the Opera and Edge browsers. But it doesn’t mean that all Chromium-based browsers are equal or are themselves open source.
Brave differentiates itself from the other Chromium browsers by focusing on user privacy — specifically by blocking trackers, scripts, and ads by default. So when you use the Brave browser, the areas of a website that would normally display ads appear as blank spaces. In some instances, pages don’t load properly, which will require you to either choose a different browser or flip the ‘Shields Up’ setting to ‘Shields Down’ which turns off the privacy and security protection.
The Internet as a whole is largely paid for by display advertisements, which keeps the actual content you want to view free. Brave has attempted to upend this model by encouraging its users to opt into Brave’s own reward system, which in reality, is its own ad platform. Once a user has opted-in, Brave will display what they call “privacy-respecting ads” for which you can view and earn what they call a Basic Attention Token a.k.a. a BAT. From this point Brave users can choose to spend their BATs on supporting the sites or individual contributors they love, who in turn can convert the BATs into actual currency.
Whether this sounds complicated or like a great idea, probably depends on your level of contempt for the display advertising on the Internet. Most Internet users understand that good content costs money, and are okay with the fact that the money comes from advertising.
On the other side of the coin, with the Firefox browser, we prefer to keep things simple. Firefox blocks many third party trackers, cryptominers and fingerprinting trackers from following you by default. However, Firefox, outside of Private Browsing Mode, chooses not to block display ads from appearing. That is, unless you install one of the extensions specifically designed for that purpose.
There are a few security features in Brave worth highlighting, such as its automatic HTTPS connection upgrades (which Firefox also offers by extension). Brave and Firefox both offer users a native password manager and the ability to check their security statistics anytime. Brave displays stats like the number of trackers it has blocked whenever you open a new tab. Firefox displays similar information when you view your privacy report which can be accessed anytime by clicking the shield in the address bar.
The bottom line is that even though Brave’s revenue model with the Basic Attention Tokens may be too complex for a lot of users, overall both Brave and Firefox browsers offer a variety of ways to enjoy a safe and private browsing experience.
