With the growth of the internet and rise of web apps, the browser has become the most used application on any computer, and I needn’t explain the significance of the internet!
Modern web browsers are bridging the gap between operating systems thanks to their incredible cross-platform capabilities. For instance, I have less problems using MacOS or Linux since I would mostly use Chrome.
Your work will greatly benefit from knowing and using the right tool for the job. Therefore, let’s consider the various browsers on the market and pick the right one for the job, which is browsing the web. Let’s detangle and make semblance of this chaotic mess!
Introducing our contenders: Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox, Safari, Vivaldi, Opera GX!
Before the in-depth comparison, we need to emphasize one point. Even though it would slowly be clear that no browser is perfect, every modern browser is suitably capable of doing their one job. Uniqueness is getting scarce.
Chrome
Ah, the most used browser in existence on every platform by a longshot.
Pros:
- So, it just works. No, really. Every web developer optimises their website for Chrome first.
- It’s really fast. Google has gifted the world with Chromium (made this technology Open-Source), which is now the most used browser backend engine. Chromium uses Blink and V8 — JavaScript and Web Assembly Engines, implementations of HTTPS and internal caching system. When introduced, Chromium improved browser speed and security for the average user by leaps and bounds. Chromium is also cross-platform. So, Chrome is pretty dang fast, and allows every other browser to also use its engine to be pretty fast for a coherent internet, which we can all respect.
- Sync is the best. Chrome has the best implementation of Account Browser Sync I have seen on a browser, and believe me, I have seen them all. It makes you feel right at home, very quickly and efficiently. Also, this feature seems to the best most buggy amongst browsers, even today, and is flawlessly smooth with Chrome.
Cons:
- Privacy Issues. Google is not a Tech Company; it is an advertising company. It is a data haemorrhage. While they do not sell data outside their organisation, Google having a lot of information about you isn’t great. I leave this up to you to ponder upon.
- On Mobile, I would rate Chrome low in terms of usability. Shockingly, Chrome as an even higher monopoly on phones than on desktops, but it lacks many features which I consider important. Modern websites are riddled with trackers and ads, and Chrome does nothing to help you in this regard. I really wouldn’t use Chrome on my phone.
- More on the point of Chrome not being on the side of consumers, Google likes to believe it knows better than you, constantly removing features and settings from new releases and having a walled garden approach unnecessarily. Chrome depreciated Manifest V2, in favour of V3. It is the next iteration of Web Extensions. The controversial change in this decision is the removal of blocking Web Request. TL; DR — Adblocking extensions on Chrome, and as extension, all Chromium based browsers suffer. A wide outcry from the community of AdBlock extension developers say this is a negative move severely decreasing the effectiveness of these extensions. Not to say that this move to V3 is entirely wrong, it is the lack of control placed in the user to decide for themselves. Firefox has done it right, adding Manifest V3 but not depreciating V2.
Edge
The truly better browser on Windows. My browser of choice on desktop.
Pros:
- Fantastic appearance. Everything about Edge when dialled in right looks great. The mica colours, address bar, wallpapers and videos and vertical tabs, everything is just elegant.
- Edge is more customizable. It has actually better settings and options than Chrome. Collections, Math Solver, Shopping Assistant, Efficiency Mode and Immersive Reader are all great features to have. Even about, Security and Privacy, there are a lot of unique things about Edge. I appreciate the true innovation coming from a company like Microsoft.
- Faster than regular Chromium browsers including Chrome. Edge uses fewer resources, especially memory. It is also empirically faster, atleast on Windows.
- It took a few updates, but Microsoft Edge caught up with, and surpassed Chrome. It matches the quality of Chrome’s sync. I see you, Microsoft engineers, good job!
- Edge works really well with Microsoft’s own services like OneDrive and Office. It is a matter of preference of services.
- Finally, Edge is not the biggest, most used browser. Microsoft actually had to compete with other big companies for users, which showed true innovation, when this massive billion-dollar company actually works tirelessly towards making a good product.
Cons:
- While true innovation and heated competition brings in users and customers like me, not everyone enters Microsoft’s ecosystem this way. The vast majority start using Edge because it is bundled with Windows and how hard Microsoft is playing to keep people using Edge. They are simply too aggressive in their tactics on keeping people on their platform. I do not appreciate the reminders periodically when I open Edge with a window which can’t be closed by pressing escape or clicking anywhere else, telling me to switch to Bing and use ‘Microsoft’s Recommended Settings’. This does sway away some power users who are displeased to see such tactics.
- Edge Mobile’s AdBlock does not allow changing filter lists and uses the inefficient ABP extension. Oh, come on! Edge Mobile was so promising!
Brave
The convenient privacy-oriented browser.
Initially, I was of the opinion that Brave is a browser for lazy people who either don’t know or can’t be bothered to install an Adblocker on their browser. I was right, but in 2016. Now, Brave has become a beast of a browser.
Pros:
- Most polished stripped-down iteration of Chromium. Chromium in itself is a raw project and unfit for use. Un-googled Chrome is not a reliable project in my eyes either. I see Brave as my only choice for a minimal Chromium experience.
- Open Source!
- Great Ad-block with CNAME Blocking and Manifest V2 on latest Chromium.
- Brave works hard to oppose decisions by the top browsers that harm privacy. It has strong AdBlock, Fingerprinting Protection, Script Blocking, and blocks third party cookies out of the box. Defaults do matter and Brave has it all sorted out. It supports features like AMP Page Redirection, TOR and IFPS which are great.
- Brave’s mobile version absolutely annihilates every other browser. Chrome on Mobile is dead to me. If you find yourself visiting rather scummy websites on mobile, Brave is the best tool you can use. It sterilises the browsing experience greatly on mobile, where screen real estate is most dire and crucial.
Cons:
- Too much Crypto Stuff. Yes, Blockchain is cool, but I don’t want it anywhere near my browser. I don’t want to invest in crypto, Why?, or dig deeper than I already know on the subject. The crypto features are a gimmick to me.
- I do not fancy the revenue model of Brave. I will not use BAT. Just another annoyance for me to remove every time I am setting up the browser. When visiting community support forums, BAT has by far the most issues. It’s good that the Brave team is starting to use other sources of revenue because I find the adblocking a crucial feature of Brave and do not plan to use this feature at all.
Firefox
The Monk, Lone Wolf and King.
Firefox has been the true and oldest browser fighting for moral causes on the internet. If not for anything else, Firefox needs to exist to not give Chromium full control over the market. The V100 update was really impressive and shows nothing but healthy competition.
Pros:
- Best browser for Linux distros (Opinion).
- Open Source with a huge userbase of advanced users, thus, incredibly customisable. about:config is an impeccable and marvellous control panel.
- Lightweight due to not being based on Chromium. it uses the Gecko engine, incorporated from the learnings from the Servo Project, which was a rewrite from scratch of the browser engine written in Rust instead of C++ with improved concurrency, parallelism and reduced memory safety vulnerabilities.
- The backing behind this browser is just commendable. The community and active parent company Mozilla are just great! Firefox also being one of the oldest open-source browsers increase the resources on it.
Cons:
- A part of the OG diehard Firefox users doesn’t like the ‘Proton’ design changes. The defaults of Firefox can have a lot of changes in terms of privacy for which Mozilla has refused to change for a long time.
- There is a noticeable difference in the JavaScript parsing (Browser speed) between Firefox and Chromium. Going on a heavy page with a lot of CSS + JS magic ✨ makes Firefox lag. It is unfortunate but true. There is a difference between page load time and JavaScript performance. When uBlock Origin is enabled on any browser, heavy ad-filled pages load about 6x faster than they do without it. Removing the common variable of this Ad-Block then, comes the Browser JS Parsing Engine, of which Chromium’s is undoubtably faster.
Safari
The dying monopolistic browser.
By majority opinion by the web developer community, Safari is become the old Internet Explorer. Safari is becoming the new IE 🙃.
Apple’s extremely locked down approach to browser engines bites them in the back. Having to use Web Kit as the only browser engine on all platforms is one of the worst and most locked down decisions Apple has made. Furthermore, I am not on the Apple ecosystem in any capacity, so I have nothing much to say.
Opera GX
The surprisingly usable browser made for gamers.
It is no surprise that the gaming industry is at the bloody top of the entertainment industry in terms of revenue. Opera GX is a surprisingly practical rendition of that business opportunity.
Do not underestimate it, Opera GX is not just a stupid skin on Opera. It does have very useful features, but I must say, its appearance customisation options are comically ridiculous but unironically great.
Truly unique features include: Dark Mode Flag without reload, Auto PIP button on Chromium, free VPN, and of course, resource limiters. It’s convenient for sure.
I don’t find a lot of the gaming features pertaining to my use case. The main problem is with Opera’s parent company. The company was acquired by a Chinese-based investor group in 2018 prior to its IPO and things have taken a turn for the worse since then. The company’s browser gross margins collapsed by 22.6% in just one year. It uncovered that Opera’s CEO “was recently involved in a Chinese lending business” and that Opera has started to make a “similar and dramatic pivot into predatory short-term loans in Africa and India”. According to Hindenburg, Opera generates “over 42% of the company’s revenue” from its short-term loan business. I’m just not going to support this company.
Vivaldi
The opinionated and feature dense browser.
Vivaldi has been described by many as the most feature-rich browser there is. By those who constantly hopped from one product to another, finally settled with Vivaldi, as it scratched every itch they had. This browser has also been described by others as an unfinished mess.
I will say, that I like the browser, and the decisions they have taken in the past.
Out of laziness and well… laziness, I will not be covering this browser. Let’s just say, diving deep and configuring Vivaldi is outside the realm of my fascination.
It’s a solid product bro, but I’m well settled. It’s just not my jam.
Interjecting here, I am using Vivaldi right now!
With my recent interest in the browser space again because of Arc, I explored Vivaldi as well. I’ll write about Arc when I have enough of an opinion about it.
whats the benefit of vivaldi -> chrome
-> no vertical tabs
-> its not google (trackers, control over extensions)
-> useful features like reading list, notes, sidebar)
-> epic tab management (tab groups, stacked tabs, workspaces)
-> command chains!!
-> looks incredibly clean while having ton of features.
-> lighter and faster than edge / chrome.
I was feeling that Edge has been adding too much stuff lately. I’d be remissed to not say that I feel a little out of touch with Edge lately.
Differences in Chrome
I ask one thing of you, reader. If you use Chrome, explore other options. Just try out some others. If you’ve never looked around, you may be missing out on a lot, and you should experiment for yourself. A big reason to switch from Chrome is because of the lack of a load of features which are nicely integrated in Edge, Brave, Vivaldi and more.
Note regarding Chromium Browsers
If Manifest V2 extensions are completely removed from the Chrome Web Store and they are not supported in the Chromium project, I will switch to Firefox that day😀
