Browser Alternatives
Just a small (unfinished/WIP) overview giving some insight in various alternatives that may suit your needs better than the standard offerings.
Firefox based
All have versions for Windows, Linux and macOS.
Portable versions are provided by the developer themselves unless stated otherwise.
All support MV2 (extensions Manifest Version 2)[^1]
| Browser | Portable (Win) | Focus / strong points | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firefox | yes (PortableApps) | official | can be hardened by using arkenfox user.js |
| Floorp | yes | UI/UX/customization | |
| LibreWolf | yes | privacy | |
| Mullvad Browser | yes[^2] | privacy | |
| Zen Browser | no[^3] | clutter-free / minimalism |
[^1]: Manifest V3 & Manifest V2 (March 2024 update) - Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog and Mozilla’s approach to Manifest V3: What’s different and why it matters for extension users
[^2]: Not truly portable (yet), but offers a 'standalone' installation option: Feature request: Option to run it Portable. · Issue #411 (GitHub)
[^3]: there do exist some unofficial hacks
Chromium (or Blink) based
<small>(Blink is the rendering engine.)</small> This table is still WIP:
| Browser | MV2 | Portable | Focus / strong points | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brave | yes/no[^4] | ? | privacy (see note) | there's some historic controversy[^5] |
| Ungoogled Chromium | yes | yes | de-Googled, more or less vanilla Chromium experience with additional tweaks & enhancements | |
| Vivaldi | no | ? | UI/UX/customization, privacy? (de-Google)[^6] |
[^4]: only selected extensions: What Manifest V3 means for Brave Shields and the use of extensions in the Brave browser | Brave
[^5]: Stop using Brave Browser - by Corbin Davenport (Aug 7, 2023)
[^6]: How Vivaldi browser is different from Google Chrome