this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2024
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Firefox alternatives

I'm thinking of switching to some Firefox alternative, but there are too many. So far, I'm thinking of Floorp, Waterfox or LibreWolf, but it is hard to decide on one specifically. Is there are suggestion in terms of privacy, security, maintanability, etc?

cc @[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 8 months ago (2 children)

What problem are you trying to solve?

I've heard Mull is good on mobile and Mullvad Browser is probably good on desktop. I just use Firefox on both though since it solves my problems.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Remember to all that use the Mull app, support the Dev so they can continue making their many many great projects.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Indeed, thanks for asking OP for a clarification of why an actual alternative is needed because, to me at least, on criteria like "privacy, security, maintanability" it is IMHO the best compromise there is.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (1 children)

i use librewolf on pc and mull on android

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

^For security hardened firefox. Mostly unnoticeable.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (2 children)

I'd go with LibreWolf.

~~A few years ago, Waterfox was purchased by System1, and advertising company~~. It also collects more user data. Edit: Looks like the dev bought it back. I'd still recommend LibreWolf though.

In my experience, LibreWolf is a good balance between privacy and functionality. I've never had problems with LibreWolf.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 8 months ago (2 children)

It seems like last year the dev purchased back the project and the ad company is no more involved

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

Oh really? Well, that's good news! I'll edit my comment. Thanks for the information.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I sense a new business model:

Make something that starts gaining users; Sell to ad company; Users move away; buy back cheap. (Optional: Repeat.)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

@[email protected] thanks, I'm using it for a few days for now

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

crawls out of gnu logo-shaped hole

I use icecat and it's pretty nice, main issue is you have to manually approve all JavaScript scripts and cross-site requests manually, so it makes visiting almost any website for the first time a pain in the ass.

Luckily most stuff is concentrated to a few sites and I use private frontends liberally so it's not a huge pain.

Slinks back into free software hole

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago

I have been using Librewolf for several months now, and I am quite happy with it. In terms of user privacy, Librewolf by default has some strict settings enabled, like Resist Fingerprinting. Resist Fingerprinting does cause some minor problems, like incorrect timezones, but there is a workaround, as stated on the Librewolf website.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I chose Floorp over regular Firefox but I'm still giving it a try, however it's working fine and I like the esthetic (big thing since I use it a lot), the only problem till now I got is I can't send tabs or share something with my phone since there's no Floorp for android

[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago

You can sync Floorp with Firefox Android or Mull.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

I am happy with Librewolf, I can't tell about the others since Librewolf kept me satisfied since I started using it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

I've used most major firefox forks, floorp is easily my favorite. the extra customization options they've added are very nice to have, and the sidebars are very useful.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Mercury is worth checking out - it's based on Librewolf but has additional privacy and performance patches.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Librewolf is a good option just don't go for Waterfox.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Waterfox is a fork of old Firefox and is ~~owned by an advertising company~~.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I also use Librewolf on Desktop and Mull on Android Mobile. I'm very happy with the setup.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Floorp if you like Firefix Vivaldi or Thorium if you like chrome

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago
  • lynx is super fast. Sure it's command line and does not display images.
  • If you need images netsurf can do that.
  • I personally use Wolvic on XR headset and compiled it for the Lynx R1 just this week.

Finally if you want to make your own browser I can recommend https://browser.engineering

PS: otherwise I'm using Firefox with Vimperator so I can't help much there. I do think Firefox, and Mozilla behind it, is not perfect but provides a better alternative than Chromium based browsers. I also do worry that if nobody does use Firefox, or at least support Mozilla, somehow then it will simply not exist anymore and thus all alternatives relying on it, e.g Waterfox or LibreWolf, will not be viable anymore.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

Anyone know of any Firefox forks on the play store other than Waterfox? Thanks

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I've been using waterfox, it's been nice 👍

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

LibreWolf is good but requires setup to start using it (for me anyway). I like to keep history and open previous tabs. Also need to enable something for itch.io to load Godot games.