Brave vs Mozilla Firefox
Two of the top three web browsers, compared rule by rule on published facts.
In short
- Brave has 84 points and Mozilla Firefox 80, 4 apart on our web browsers rules.
- Brave earns more on privacy and security and extensions; Mozilla Firefox earns more on tabs and tools.
- Cost to use: Brave $0, Mozilla Firefox $0.
- Only Brave meets: built-in ad blocker and Chrome Web Store extensions.
- Only Mozilla Firefox meets: built-in VPN or proxy and tab groups.
Mozilla Firefox80/100 #2 of 12
Best for: People who want open-source code, tracker blocking and sync that Mozilla cannot read.
Points by group
| Group | Brave | Mozilla Firefox |
|---|---|---|
| Systems of 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Privacy and security of 37 | 34 | 32 |
| Sync and sign-in of 22 | 17 | 17 |
| Extensions of 12 | 12 | 6 |
| Tabs and tools of 16 | 8 | 12 |
| Price of 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 84 | 80 |
Rule by rule
What each vendor publishes, and the points it earns. Sources are on each product page.
| Rule (points) | Brave | Mozilla Firefox |
|---|---|---|
| Other systems (8) | macOS, Linux, iOS, Android 8 | macOS, Linux, iOS, Android 8 |
| Blocks trackers by default (8) | Yes 8 | Yes 8 |
| Built-in ad blocker (5) | Yes 5 | Not published 0 |
| Fingerprinting protection (7) | Yes 7 | Yes 7 |
| Built-in VPN or proxy (3) | No 0 | Yes 3 |
| Open source (5) | Yes 5 | Yes 5 |
| Public bug bounty (4) | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| Phishing and malware warnings (5) | Yes 5 | Yes 5 |
| Free sync across devices (6) | Yes 6 | Yes 6 |
| End-to-end encrypted sync (8) | Yes 8 | Yes 8 |
| Built-in password manager (3) | Yes 3 | Yes 3 |
| Saves passkeys (5) | Not published 0 | Not published 0 |
| Chrome Web Store extensions (6) | Yes 6 | Not published 0 |
| Manifest V2 extensions still work (6) | Yes 6 | Yes 6 |
| Vertical tabs (4) | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| Tab groups (4) | Not published 0 | Yes 4 |
| Built-in page translation (4) | Yes 4 | Yes 4 |
| Separate profiles (4) | Not published 0 | Not published 0 |
| Cost to use (5) | $0 5 | $0 5 |
Brave
Brave suits people who want ad, tracker and fingerprinting protection without adding extensions, and who still want Chrome Web Store add-ons. Only you hold the Sync decryption key. The catch: its VPN is a paid add-on that covers the whole device, not just the browser, and passkey storage is not documented on its feature or privacy pages.
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox suits people who want privacy features in the browser itself: tracker and fingerprint blocking, a free-tier browser VPN and sync Mozilla cannot read. Its code is open source and Mozilla says it keeps Manifest V2 support. The catch: Firefox's pages do not mention passkeys or Chrome Web Store installs, and a past Bugzilla breach is on record.
Both products are scored by the same rules: how we score web browsers.