Ask HN: Which web browser are you using and why? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Which web browser are you using and why?

#11

Post by ensocode » Wed, Dec 03, 2025, 8:27 AM UTC

Brave. Good security defaults and PWA support - just werks

Re: Ask HN: Which web browser are you using and why?

#12

Post by oyaa52 » Wed, Dec 03, 2025, 9:42 AM UTC

Chrome. I'm the one who still asks to google than to ChatGPT haha

Re: Ask HN: Which web browser are you using and why?

#13

Post by ifh-hn » Wed, Dec 03, 2025, 11:12 AM UTC

My main browser is and likely will remain Firefox. Despite all the complaints it's the only open source alternative to a major corp controlled browser. It gives the most control.

I have Vivaldi as a second, and distant third Brave, though I avoid using it as much as possible.

Re: Ask HN: Which web browser are you using and why?

#14

Post by meatjuice » Wed, Dec 03, 2025, 3:20 PM UTC

Librewolf since Mozilla started ruining Firefox. Brave is out of the question, it's affiliated.

Re: Ask HN: Which web browser are you using and why?

#15

Post by LopovJack » Wed, Dec 03, 2025, 4:49 PM UTC

Brave. Good defaults out of the box unlike Firefox where you need to fiddle with bunch of flags.

Cross-platform apps and adblocking.

Re: Ask HN: Which web browser are you using and why?

#16

Post by raw_anon_1111 » Wed, Dec 03, 2025, 5:41 PM UTC

benoau wrote: post #7

Firefox. If it weren't for them the entire internet would be controlled by Google and Apple, who have an ad-revenue sharing agreement that perhaps has already influenced ad blocking in their browsers, who keep mobile browsers ten steps behind desktop browsers where they each have a massive financial interest in driving users to apps instead.

> Firefox. If it weren't for them the entire internet would be controlled by Google and Apple, who have an ad-revenue sharing agreement that perhaps has already influenced ad blocking in their browsers

85% of Mozilla’s revenue comes from its ad sharing agreement with Google.

What ads do you think an iOS/Mac user running Safari and something like 1Blocker (been around for over a decade) see?

Re: Ask HN: Which web browser are you using and why?

#17

Post by samtheDamned » Thu, Dec 04, 2025, 2:55 AM UTC

I use firefox mostly because it's not blink based, and because I've used it all my life, but I also really love the userChrome system even if its hidden behind a flag. Since I use mostly vanilla gnome I use a firefox libadwaita skin [0] that makes it blend in nicely. I used to be jealous of chrome based browsers for their performance but I tried to switch to brave a couple years ago and honestly it doesn't look or feel very nice.

Most chromium-based browsers feel the same and its disappointing. If I wasn't as happy with the gnome skin for firefox I'd probably be using Zen [1] because its nice to see a firefox based browser that tries to introduce new features and create an identity of its own instead of joining a size measuring contest on how hard(ened) they are (I respect them, but it's a very saturated market at this point).

Editing to add that like @WarOnPrivacy said, containers are also a huge feature that I don't think I've seen any chromium-based browsers replicate.

[1]: https://github.com/rafaelmardojai/firefox-gnome-theme [2]: https://zen-browser.app/