Thinking about changing browser, what are pros and cons of all Opera, Opera GX, Firefox, Brave or whatever you personally chose. I am currently on GX but am debating changing it for something new.
Opera: Pros: smooth and cosy features all packed in. Cons: forget about privacy. Chromium/Blink core limitations with deep settings & extensions.
Opera GX: same as Opera, but better hardware resources management, useful for gaming sessions & machines with kind of limited RAM/CPU.
Firefox: Pros: freedom & privacy at its core. Extensions capabilities very powerful. You can customize it (manually or with extensions) in depths other browsers do not allow. Also allows many very powerful extensions on Android (including adblocking)! Cons: requires to learn & dive into it to make the most of it. The learning curve can be high. No adblocking by default (only anti-tracking). Can have some compatibility issues with websites (but very rare and often due to specific settings, so can be fixed with investigations).
Librewolf: same as Firefox, which it’s built from, but much higher privacy standards & adblocking out of the box (which kind of addresses the main Cons of Firefox). Cons: update process annoying because it’s not signed, and must be done manually. Installing it through the Windows Store makes it less of a hassle for this, but it has additional delays, which may cause security concerns. No mobile versions.
Brave; Pros: privacy & adblocking out of the box, and at its core. Crypto wallet & capabilities (if you’re into that). Blocks ads & tracking in Android! Cons: lack of customizability inherited from the chromium/blink core, which impacts greatly extensions capabilities.
Edge: Pros: convenient features and smooth browsing. Cons: forget about privacy. Chromium/Blink limitations, which will impact adblocking/tracking extensions a lot. Annoying banners, popups & aggressive self-promotion everywhere, all the time.
Chrome: Pros: compatibility with the web, since sadly everyone codes mainly for this browser. Performance of the core. Integration with Google ecosystem (if you’re into that). Cons: Pri…vacy? What is that shit… Do I look like I give a fuck about an animal from Laos? . Tracking & data collection & profiling at its core. Adblocking & tracking protections severely limited. Brutal feature/UI drops every now and then that focus more on the ecosystem & business needs rather than users’.
Arc : Pros: unusual & nice UI for productivity & ease of use. Cons: forget about privacy. Chromium/Blink limitations for extensions. Still under development on Windows. UI requires a learning curve & to change your habits.
Vivaldi: Pros: king of customizations for the UI (for Chromium browsers). Lots of features all packed in. Cons: Chromium/Blink core limitations. Requires to dive into settings to make the most of it, can take some time.
Floorp: Pros: king of customizations for the UI (for Gecko/Firefox browsers), which is their main focus/core. Cons: delays in updates from Firefox main, which can cause security concerns. Except that, the same as firefox.
There are many other alternatives, but they are less talked about right now (or I forgot), so I won’t cover them. That doesn’t mean they are not interesting or worth using. I’ll let other people talk about them.
I’ve found Firefox to be the most versatile one. It is highly customizable, has great extensions, offers a little more privacy, and has great sync capabilities. I find most of Opera GX’s features gimmicks. Brave is great if you want Chromium and a built-in ad blocker. Besides that, Firefox would be a good option. The best option is the one you like more, so try them all!
Brave, Firefox needs a lot of improvement before I go back.
Firefox, but a variant of it: LibreWolf
brave is prolly the best chormium browser but i like firefox the most
Is Opera GX even a real browser?
I’ve used most browsers out there and well…I can say this based on my experience:
Google Chrome: the most compatible browser. Everything just works. If you want Google to know everything about you I strongly suggest this browser - but if you care a bit about what you’re sharing well…avoid it and you’ll live better.
Microsoft Edge: a good productivity browser (of course, it’s Microsoft). Very tight with Microsoft 365 and it is more a work browser if you happen to work in a Microsoft 365 environment. Was very fast - today it’s bloated.
Firefox: the only non Chromium cross-platform browser. Some websites brake. Still problems with RAM. Not a productivity browser (unless you want to built it youself using tons of addons). On a recent post Mozilla stated that by the next year we will have Tab grouping and other productivity stuff out-of-the-box, so hang in there.
Brave: nice try. Ad blockers really work and as a consequence Websites may break. It is the fastest browser because it actually blocks all the ad crap form many Websites. However it is far from perfect and it is NOT a productivity browser - needs addons as Firefox does.
Opera/Opera GX: Opera is a GOOD browser - period! Opera One has a meaning. It is a good productivity browser, has a nice logic behind the tab islands and has great look and feel, Opera GX on the other hand doesn’t. You’ll soon find out that playing with the RAM on GX will cause Websites not to load. So in fact it is not a browser for gamers but more of “a game for gamers” I would say…
Vivaldi: this is the REAL productivity browser and the successor of Opera. You can do whatever you want in Vivaldi, change it’s look and feel, sidebar (you can put as manu websites you want in the sidebar), Workspaces, Tab groupings on 2 rows…if you live inside a borwser Vivaldi would be a perfect home.
Safari: Great piece of work by Apple and a blazing fast browser - If you own only Apple devices that is. If you happen to own Android devices and/or Windows PC’s and want a cross-platform browser than avoid it.
As for me, I would like to use Safari as my only browser but since I don’t own only Apple devices and need a Corss-Platfom browser than I find myself using other browsers such as Firefox, Vivaldi, Opera and Brave.
Iam using Librewolf & Floorp they are based on Firefox and they are really great
I would suggest Brave, as it’s open source, has a built-in ad blocker which is similar to uBlock Origin, and is Chromium-based for good web compatibility.
Firefox is open source, gecko-based, and has the best version of uBlock Origin. However you may have compatibility issues on some sites, but your mileage may vary, so give it a try too.
My experience:
- You can disable everything on brave at “chrome://flags”. Almost.
- Brave’s sync doesn’t need an account. Almost.
- Chromium (brave is built on chromium) is more secure (not as private though)
- Modern features work. Almost.
- Consumes less than Chrome (though triple, comparing to Safari)
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- Firefox is different. Literally. That’s why some websites brake.
- Firefox lets you customize it top-to-bottom. Literally. Sometimes it brakes.
- Firefox has more trust than brave. Though it took 25 years for devs to fix a bug.
- Firefox apparently consumes less energy. And it’s broken on Mac.
- Passkeys work, but usually broken.
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- opera is a piece of sh
Brave: almost done, but works
Firefox: done, but broken
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Use whatever feels more at-home, cause if whatever is broken, you can always either fix it, or just do some “edging”. You can always use both.
Firefox is good and Brave too
Brave is fast and has a great built-in ad block. Not a fan of the sync and has been known to have some issues, but that is generally when people have several systems they are syncing.
Firefox is the old guard that still stands strong, but needs some TLC. If you decide to go this route, I would suggest Floorp, especially coming from Opera GX. It has more features. I love Firefox, but it needs some work. I say this all as someone who uses Firefox as their personal browser.
Opera / Opera GX would not even be on my list of considerations. Not a great ad block, by default. Slower and there are always questions about privacy with it, legit or not.
Vivaldi is the spiritual successor to the original idea that is Opera by the person that was there. It has numerous features and runs on Chromium, since that is what you are used to. Not as fast as Brave and more on par with Firefox generally, but not slow. The ad block is better than the Opera variants, but not as good as Brave. If I used it, I would probably just install uBO. It is another good option if you like the features of Opera/GX.
Firefox
Opera isn’t private, and Brave is ok but just another chromium browser. (Although you can choose to earn crypto with it)
The one you like most on my flair
i just switched to brave and it’s legit like opera but way better and the adblock actually works LOL. i was on opera for a while but like within 5 minutes brave overtook it for me and idk if ill ever recommend opera again. for me opera is also a very slow browser and brave is super fast and ACTUAL ADBLOCK!!
Brave. /disclaimer Brave support 
I say brave or Firefox, Opera seems a little sus
Mrwhosetheboss recommends Opera browser
Are you concerned about privacy? Do you want Chrome extension support? Customization? It really depends on what you want to do with it. Firefox is going to feel outdated if you’re used to a modern Chromium browser, but it’s private, and highly customizable if you’re willing to put in the effort (you’ll have to find and install lots of addons). Brave is Chromium and private out of the box (ad and tracker blocking by default) but not very customizable. Opera’s browsers are also Chromium, not private at all, but they’ve got lots of bells and whistles. I personally use Vivaldi for the privacy, customization out of the box, extensive (and growing) tab features and syncing, and other quality of life options.