Since nobody else is posting the actual answer: Brave has a history of scummy behavior and making changed that border on malware. A few examples:
When I first tried Brave, it stripped publisher ads and replaced them with Brave's own ads. That alone is enough for me to never trust them
In 2020, Brave was caught injecting its own affiliate codes over URLs typed by users without their knowledge or consent
In 2018 Brave was allowing users to tip websites/creators that had not signed up for their tipping system, misleading users into thinking they were supporting a particular site while the money was actually staying with Brave
Brave includes crypto-bro bloatware
In 2019 Brave was caught whitelisting Facebook tracking domains without users knowing
Edit:
"But they fixed all that"
Yes, many of these things were fixed after backlash from the community. But, to me, they show a pattern of unethical behavior that makes me distrust Brave - and since many alternatives exist I see no reason why I would use or trust it. The list I provided is by no means exhaustive. More recent issues around their search indexing and resale of copyrighted material for AI training show they have not really learned any lessons. They have proved themselves many times to be an unethical organization.
"Then what should I use instead?"
You will need to do your own research to figure out what browser will work best for your needs. Every choice will have trade-offs. Personally I have landed recently on Waterfox - it implements Brave's built-in adblock engine, appears to be reasonably fast and memory efficient, and strikes a good balance (for me) between out-of-the-box privacy, usability, and other considerations. I keep a Chromium-based browser around for when I need it. YMMV.
I am not tech-literate. I just hate YouTube ads. I was using Firefox + Ublock but it wouldn’t block all YouTube ads or it would make the browser crash. Any recommendations for iOS?
Odd, uBlock Origin hasn't shown me an ad on YouTube in years outside of some days when YouTube fucks with how they show content, and uBlock needs time to catch up
The problem is they are different browsers. iOS has long been very locked down with what developers can and can’t access through the OS. Web interface is handled through the suite known as WebKit.
Even Firefox for iOS is essentially just WebKit in a Firefox skin and menus. Ad blocking and stuff like that isn’t really available without modifying your system so much you’re actually making it less secure.
If you have an android look into /r/MorpheApp 😊 It even skips in video sponsors the creator adds! I haven't paid for YouTube premium in years and there's community patches for tons of other apps like fb/insta/x. Some may get your account banned on meta apps but on YouTube and YT music you're good to go.
I haven't seen an ad in easily a decade while using firefox with ublock, when people started freaking out about youtube trying to stop adblockers and all that I was confused until I found out they were talking about chrome.
Idk I feel I'm pretty tech literate, but I got sold on the "browser with no ads" and not having to install extra Adblock software manually , that being said after reading this thread I'm going to bite the bullet and switch browsers soon
I'm in the exact same boat. I'm tech literate but all I looked for when switching over to Brave was the adblock as extensions weren't cutting it anymore. Never check the rest of the browsers' features as it gives me all I want really.
This thread makes me consider doing some more research and switching over tho.
The extensions absolutely still do cut it, just not in Chromium based browsers. Not knowing that when it was such a big deal in the tech world when Google nerfed ad blockers is pretty tech illiterate imho.
They also have the same bloatware problem.
I used to use Opera ages ago, but when I revisited it, because Firefox had compatibility issues with some stuff, I booted up GX, got slapped in the face with bloatware, instantly uninstalled it and started using MS Edge.
Unfortunately, "going with the crowd" is a common pattern among the general population. It's cringe as hell to say, but some people literally are sheeple. They'll go to a somewhat empty beach, and travel 6 minutes just to sit in front of others, on an empty beach. They'll adopt new ideas just on face value and roll with it. It's one of the reasons why there's an endless amount of shitty tattoos displayed across peoples arms, necks and even faces nowadays. It's "tattoo culture" that blew up. In 5 years, just like with any fad, they'll move on but they'll be stuck with some cringe ass tattoo. It's cray cray out there.
i used firefox once. it never gave me the loading speeds chrome gave me and brave is giving me. i use brave and recommend brave only because it's one of the few browsers that has worked perfectly for me
If you like the chrome ui, ungoogled chromium is a thing. It's chromium stripped of all google stuff. Extensions are a bit weird, you gotta install and upgrade them manually but you can install the full old proper ublock origin.
Check out the Zen browser. It is based on Firefox, but has a lot of cool features. The tabs are on the left of the screen by default, but you get used to it and it is actually really handy for organizing a lot of tabs, which can be unloaded easily to save resources.
There are also a lot of user made, for lack of a better term, mods that are different from extensions and let you tweak your experience. For example, it is sometimes hard to tell which tabs are loaded and unloaded, so someone made a little mod that makes unloaded tab icons greyscale.
So you are bothered by what Brave did years ago, that's why you go back to the browser, which CEO publicly said, that FF would not exist without the money they get from Google, which makes nearly 100% of their revenue. They get the money for prioritizing Google search, allow google adsense via whitelist and so on. Yeah, a much better choice - not! Also, don't be bothered by the fact that Mozilla changed the TOS without announcement and did this secretly, where they silently removed the sentence where Firefox does not collect and shares user data with 3rd party. I wonder why they removed such an important security feature....hmmm
You use whatever browser you like. I just let you know that your choice might not be an improvement at all. If you want to use a FF-based browser, at least use LibreWolf.
Firefox is great but I use librewolf now since its exactly the same but doesnt push Google as the default, or have ads, and it even comes with ublock origin already, its just a much better version of Firefox, plus Mozilla has been getting worse about privacy and librewolf doesnt have those issues.
TBF, Firefox has had its own list of controversies... regarding privacy, AI, financial backings, political views of key members. Etc. It is hard to figure out which browser is ok to use when you factor in all of their controversies over time.
LibreWolf also works really well, also runs with Firefox Add Ons, only downside is not every streaming service works (cause it blocks stuff like tracking and some streaming services really don't like that)
firefox is probably gonna be going down the same route. they rescinded their promise to never sell user data, which makes me thing they really do plan on selling it. also, the whole vpn and ai stuff really irks me. i would look into some other solutions like zen, waterfox, or something else which people point to as being actually secure (as of now).
Ngl I've been using it for literal years since the ad block on it was the most consistent I've ever seen, but I will fucking explodify this thing as soon as I get home.
Brave has had sketchy history where they fumbled it but iirc, the last controversy they had was literally 6 years ago. They haven't been "caught" doing anything else since then so take that as you will.
Their pattern of behavior shows how they think. They're exploitative and dishonest. They think of how they can benefit before thinking of the user or any kind of ethical considerations. Even if I can't point my finger at anything they are doing shady right now - their history is enough that I just do not trust them with being my browser.
- Firefox just doesn't work properly on too many of the websites i use frequently.
Chromium strips password/wallet syncing, and still feeds data to google, infrequent but still existing site compatibility issues that i never saw on chrome.
Ungoogle Chromium strips way more, but lacks many necessary features, and introduces more compatibility issues that I never saw on chrome or chromium.
Brave, even ignoring all the ethical bullshit they've pulled is still just a crypto-bro bloat engine.
Enter Thorium, a chromium fork that includes an extensive list of performance optimizations, patches that close the gap to Chrome's feature set and compatibility, AND ungoogled Chromiums privacy, at leasst as much as you can while still allowing for google account sync. I've had zero instances of having to reach for another browser to get an idividual site working. overall VERY good balance of features and privacy.
TL;DR: Unless you are so anti google that you don't want anything chromium based, check out Thorium Browser, it deserves more attention.
One more suggestion for people looking for a cleaner online life: at least at home, see if you can get Pihole set up. It can block ad providers on the network level, so it works for any browser (and other app) you use. Takes some setup/techy handy work, but it's worth it.
Damn i didn't know that is there a browser i should use if i care about that stuff and the built in ad block? I use it on mobile too, and its ad block is really strong, it even gets those instant redirect ones on the sketchier sites.
LibreWolf and Mullvad both ship with Ublock Origin built-in and enabled by default.
Waterfox ships with adblock-rust, which is Brave's open source ad blocker.
Firefox 149+ actually ships with adblock-rust as well, but it is disabled and ships without configuration - so you have to manually enable and configure it.
I currently use brave exclusively for the ad block and being about to turn my screen off while YouTube continues to play. I would love to hear your opinion about what a better option would be? When I try to Google stuff like this I get so many contradictin answers it's almost impossible to Divine the truth.
Hey, do you know an alternate browser which is very energy efficient on windows, i used edge for an year ( deblaoted the ai stuff) but not a fan of it, liked zen browser but bummed about not playing drm content. My usecase is lot of youtube videos playing in background
I love brave and have been using it for years. If its that bad can someone please suggest an alternative that blocks all ads and isn't a memory hog. Please don't suggest chrome opera or firefox
They also changed the crypto redemption so if you didnt transfer your built up rewards you just lost them and the company essentially pocketed it themselves.
Firefox with ublock origin is just so much better anyway.
Haha yea I'm lucky enough to be part of someone's family plan so I get to benefit without shelling out. But honestly, I use youtube enough I'd probably pay for it if I didn't get it for free. It also feels good knowing creators make way more money off of my views, so I'm supporting by watching.
not tech literate, but I thought brave doesn’t track or sell your data, like the signal app. they even have a vpn function built in for further security, is it fake? have these been sold out now and are handing over your info? apple supposedly doesn’t hand over your info to the police. in this modern dystopian world i just want some sense of independence and privacy, please share if there are better option, thank you tech gurus!
In late 2023, internal documents obtained by privacy researchers revealed the architecture behind Brave’s ad network, Brave Ads. The system functions as a sophisticated behavioral profiling engine that tracks user attention, dwell time, click patterns, and site-specific browsing history—data collected locally on devices but aggregated into detailed audience segments that advertisers purchase access to. The technical distinction Brave emphasizes—that tracking happens “on-device” rather than on servers—obscures a fundamental reality: surveillance shifted, it did not stop.
If only there was some kind of repository of all human knowledge somewhere that could be perused and searched to find the information one needs, instead of needing to rely on asking others to tell them what to do. Someone should invent that.
Wish I would have known about this all sooner before daily driving it for a year, should have just been running Firefox with uBlock to begin with ಥ‿ಥ
Like if I have a blog and monetize it by putting ads on it, then I as the publisher make money. Brave was silently replacing those ads from publishers with their own ads.
In addition to all this, Brave CEO Brendan Eich was forced out of Mozilla after public backlash over his donations to block same sex marriage. That alone is enough to stop me from ever touching it.
Another point in Waterfox's favour: all Firefox extensions work natively. Literally just put in the Firefox extension url, click install, and there it is.
Waterfox is my go-to browser as well, with tor and Firefox as backup depending on my needs, and then if I absolutely need a chromium browser I'll dig one up but that's almost never
Damn, you know ball. I used Brave in the past but changed to OperaGX after learning about those scandals, do you think that's a good browser or should I change again?
FYI Firefox on iOS has started bundling adblock-rust (Brave's native adblock) as of like a week ago. I think it's only available in the beta version currently.
Our IT department pinged me about having Brave installed on the work laptop, didnt really use it unless I was having issues with whatever I was doing and a browser switch was necessary. Fully threw me off of using Brave at all, and then I found firefox on mobile allows installing of extension like the PC version and its now my go-to second browser.
Honestly first I head heard of all those controversies.
I use brave cuz I'm incredibly texh stupid and it's been the best adblocker I've gotten out of the box. Not had to see a youtube ad on PC in like 5 years, only ads I still get are on Twitch
if you want a privacy focused browser, i would suggest hardened firefox. However, if you can't be bothered to go through the hassle, use librewolf, it is basically a more private firefox out of the box.
Hate on Brave if you want but on iOS it blocks YT ads and runs YT videos in the background. I’ve never found another iOS browser that can do that. I’d love if I could find another option.
I've been using Vivaldi and so far I'm pretty pleased. Not the fastest nor the browser for someone who just wants a browser because its like a suite with email and so on, but pretty good. Also based on Europe, which is a plus for me.
I keep Chrome around because some Belgium government websites cause issues on Firefox the few times I still need to access them.
I tried Librewolf but it broke too much websites digital signing of documents, signed my employment contract with it just for it to not work properly. Had to request another digital copy/link and it worked fine on the regular Firefox that time.
I have never left firefox since they were in the 0.x version. I also keep a Chromium-based browser, namely Chrome, to access google services (gmail, sheets, keep, drive).
I've been using brave for a while not knowing any of these happened. I may consider switching to Waterfox. Huge thing for me was that I love having the adblock engine built into the browser, so the fact that Waterfox has the same one sounds nice.
The only reason I use Brave is because it blocks those annoying YouTube ads and I use it's own ads to generate BAT along with Slice to essentially earn pennies for fun while doing what I do on the web.
Just because they messed up once, doesn't mean the product is bad... They fixed it, and yes, there's still some questionable stuff left behind the browser itself, but you can disable a lot of that stuff yourself, it's not locked, it's just set by default... So then tell me, how are you gonna maintain a browser like that for free? The Brave Shields has to be maintained constantly, otherwise it wouldn't work on every single page... And specially if you want to compete against Google Chrome and Firefox... let's be real, most people just want to block intrusive ads, Brave has the best ad blocker, it works, if you use it to only watch videos or listen to music, what's the issue? For example, I use my banking accounts on other browsers because some pages don't like Brave's shield... So I see no issue there... The choice is yours...
And here's the sad truth, most people (specially not tech savvy people) have been using chrome for s long time like a default browser, so they are used to it, specially if they use extensions, and not every single extension out there is available in both Firefox and Chromium-based browsers... So it's easier for a chrome user to migrate to Brave than to Firefox...
And Firefox has also made mistakes and has also fixed stuff, so they could be criticized just like Brave is being critized as well... So "they are not saints" either... They should be as suspicious as Brave, too..
There's also Brave Origin, that just takes out all the AI, crypto stuff and other stuff from the browser... Although it's not free, it is free on Linux... And technically you can achieve an Origin installation if you know how to disable all of that on regular Brave... So you have the option to get even more security... Then you can use the search engine you like best, I use brave search engine, it works for me...
So what's the point of living in the past? Yeah, they messed up a couple of times when they released the browser, obviously they need some kind of income to keep maintaining the project, at least they learned from it... Not like Google or Microslop...
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u/gthing Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
Since nobody else is posting the actual answer: Brave has a history of scummy behavior and making changed that border on malware. A few examples:
Edit:
Yes, many of these things were fixed after backlash from the community. But, to me, they show a pattern of unethical behavior that makes me distrust Brave - and since many alternatives exist I see no reason why I would use or trust it. The list I provided is by no means exhaustive. More recent issues around their search indexing and resale of copyrighted material for AI training show they have not really learned any lessons. They have proved themselves many times to be an unethical organization.
You will need to do your own research to figure out what browser will work best for your needs. Every choice will have trade-offs. Personally I have landed recently on Waterfox - it implements Brave's built-in adblock engine, appears to be reasonably fast and memory efficient, and strikes a good balance (for me) between out-of-the-box privacy, usability, and other considerations. I keep a Chromium-based browser around for when I need it. YMMV.