{"slug": "brave", "name": "Brave", "category": "browsers", "category_name": "Browsers and extensions", "description": "Chromium-based web browser with built-in ad and tracker blocking, plus its own search engine.", "recommenders": 71, "commenters": 123, "warners": 16, "score": 59.938, "rising": 24.89, "first": "2025-11-07", "latest": "2026-10-22", "why": "HN commenters like Brave for its built-in ad blocking, for being a Chromium browser that just works across devices and for Brave Search's independent index.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 77, "neutral": 36, "compare": 4, "warn": 17}, "spark": [3, 2, 6, 3, 1, 3, 6, 10, 6, 16, 14, 7], "listed": true, "loved": ["Brave Search", "Built-in adblock"], "caveat": "Crypto cruft", "short_quote": "I can't believe it's not the dominant browser. It solves so many problems with no user intervention.", "icon": true, "domain": "brave.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://brave.com/", "pricing": "freemium", "aliases": ["Brave", "Brave Search"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters like Brave for its built-in ad blocking", "cites": [{"id": 798085856, "item_id": 49880366, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880366", "by": "behnamoh", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been enjoying Brave for a long time", "excerpt": "I've been enjoying Brave for a long time, and recently I have been using their AI sidebar connected to my own local server, which is so pleasant to use. I can ask questions about a web page or other things. I also like that using Brave has reduced my dependence on ad blockers because Brave itself is really good at blocking ads. In fact, there are some that don't get blocked by uBlock, but then Brave catches them. Not", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing, ad blocking, AI sidebar with local server", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 787611072, "item_id": 49225692, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49225692", "by": "lelanthran", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave's builtin adblocker is pretty great as well.", "excerpt": "> Isn't Brave okay? Sure it is. I use both Brave and FF (FF more than Brave, TBH). Brave's builtin adblocker is pretty great as well.", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing with ad blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft Edge is about to lock out older ad blockers, just like Chrome did"}, {"id": 796855808, "item_id": 49803488, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49803488", "by": "animuchan", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Bonus points for having Brave browser with built-in adblock", "excerpt": "Android user here, switched from iOS (not because of ads, a different gripe). Not going to lie, it's a holistically bad experience, very similar to iOS in this regard. But Android doesn't show ads. The closest thing would be the Google Photos pestering to back up to cloud, things like that. It's per app, and usually there are better apps to replace the offending ones. (And vendor garbage can even be uninstalled, alth", "context": "Android user, switched from iOS", "use_case": "ad-free browsing on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 780067777, "item_id": 48754236, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48754236", "by": "unselect5917", "date": "2026-07-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Why anyone still uses vanilla Chrome for personal use is beyond me while brave exists and is actively maintained.", "excerpt": "I use Ublock on Brave (chromium). Ublock is supposed to be unnecessary with brave alone, but I use it all the time to delete annoying UI elements mostly permanently. Why anyone still uses vanilla Chrome for personal use is beyond me while brave exists and is actively maintained. It's essentially youtube premium for free even on mobile.", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "Chrome", "story": "Sony Deletes 551 Movies PlayStation Owners Paid For"}]}, {"text": ", for being a Chromium browser that just works across devices", "cites": [{"id": 798073424, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave just works, I can use it on all my devices, OSes", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "main browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 801421584, "item_id": 50088849, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50088849", "by": "ghusto", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Switched to Brave a while ago and everything works as it should", "excerpt": "Christ, no thanks. I've tried Safari every time someone raves about it, and every time I've felt vindicated. Switched to Brave a while ago and everything works as it should (i.e. I don't think about my web browser).", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "Safari", "story": "Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome)"}, {"id": 788953936, "item_id": 49309621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309621", "by": "therealmarv", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Brave. I want Chromium under the hood.", "excerpt": "I use Brave. I want Chromium under the hood. Firefox on mobile is not good, tried it many times. I also don't trust Firefox Mobile security as much as I trust Brave/Chromium on Android.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin"}, {"id": 792495168, "item_id": 49530948, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530948", "by": "andai", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "So the closest thing for me (Chrome minus Google) was Brave.", "excerpt": "Firefox was slow on my computer (old Thinkpad). I tried using Degoogled Chromium but it kept crashing. So the closest thing for me (Chrome minus Google) was Brave. Vivaldi is cool (I loved Opera 20 years ago) but very laggy on my machine. (They did the UI in JavaScript or something.) I use both now (Brave and Firefox), when I want to use a second account. And Firefox scrolls PDFs more smoothly. (But Chrome-based brow", "context": "old Thinkpad user", "use_case": "main browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}]}, {"text": " and for Brave Search's independent index.", "cites": [{"id": 798594112, "item_id": 49912132, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49912132", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave search is the best alternative to Google.", "excerpt": "Brave search is the best alternative to Google. They have an independent index and good UI. Very rarely do I switch to another engine. Brave does well at surfacing forum threads and the AI summary has been surprisingly good for a while. https://www.privacyguides.org/en/search-engines/", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "Google", "story": "Let's Ditch Google (Verb)"}, {"id": 784171840, "item_id": 49010740, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49010740", "by": "MattTheRealOne", "date": "2026-07-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using Brave Search since its launch and it has been great in my experience.", "excerpt": "Same. I have been using Brave Search since its launch and it has been great in my experience. I also love that it has its own index. I have tried the free Kagi trial and it seems to work well, but I can't justify the cost for little to no benefit and it still depends on bigger search engines for indexing.", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Back to Kagi"}, {"id": 786502737, "item_id": 49156421, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49156421", "by": "SyneRyder", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you just want a free search engine, Brave is probably the best index.", "excerpt": "If you don't mind paying and someone else having control over your search experience, Kagi is an option. Urkey (sp?) is another new alternative. If you just want a free search engine, Brave is probably the best index. Bonus points to Marginalia for finding the obscure things Brave doesn't surface. But if you want to go down the rabbit hole, it's easy to build your own metasearch engine and search several engines at o", "context": "", "use_case": "free web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}]}, {"text": " The most common complaint is crypto and promotional cruft that has to be turned off", "cites": [{"id": 798078544, "item_id": 49879909, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879909", "by": "lenova", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "slowly Brave became my default browser over time due to its adblocking abilities and general speed.", "excerpt": "Ah, the author is Kev Quirk! I really enjoyed his SimpleCSS project: https://github.com/kevquirk/simple.css I also relate to this post: tried to make Firefox my default browser for years, but slowly Brave became my default browser over time due to its adblocking abilities and general speed. That said, Brave is a bit of a UI mess out of the box, with too many of their unnecessary \"features\" like their wallet and crypt", "context": "", "use_case": "default browser", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798073424, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave just works, I can use it on all my devices, OSes", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "main browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 792489921, "item_id": 49530620, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530620", "by": "lern_too_spel", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "why pick one that's filled with crypto ads?", "excerpt": "If you're going to use a Chromium based browser, why pick one that's filled with crypto ads? I use Firefox on mobile because it supports extensions. One of the main benefits of the web is that, unlike proprietary native apps, I get to experience it the way I want. The web is nearly intolerable without extensions.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}, {"id": 792285456, "item_id": 49517841, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517841", "by": "dartharva", "date": "2026-09-01", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the path they're taking with crypto and add-on bloat just feels ickier than most of its competition including Chrome.", "excerpt": "I used to be interested in it but ever since they launched Brave Orion it has become clear they intend to actively monetize the free public versions they have been releasing, and the path they're taking with crypto and add-on bloat just feels ickier than most of its competition including Chrome.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 792260048, "item_id": 49516253, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49516253", "by": "zhivota", "date": "2026-08-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it as a browser.", "excerpt": "I love it as a browser. The startup screen shocks me every now and then, pimping some crypto shit or another, but other than that, it's good.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}]}, {"text": ", followed by distrust of the company itself.", "cites": [{"id": 798184672, "item_id": 49886542, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49886542", "by": "anotherevan", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Every time I see mention of \"Brave\" I'm reminded that Brendan left Mozilla because of his contributions to anti-gay rights causes", "excerpt": "> I switched to Brave because Firefox no longer holds the technical or moral high ground. Every time I see mention of \"Brave\" I'm reminded that Brendan left Mozilla because of his contributions to anti-gay rights causes, and then immediately founded a company called \"Brave\". In essence, to me, it felt like he was thumbing his nose and saying it was brave to be a homophobe. So yeah, nah, comparing the moral high groun", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 776922048, "item_id": 48557628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48557628", "by": "entropie", "date": "2026-06-16", "stance": "warn", "quote": "But its obvious that these guys are semi shady and they will show sooner or later.", "excerpt": "I used brave a bit and really liked it. But its obvious that these guys are semi shady and they will show sooner or later. I liked chrome derviates and used them over a decade. I got tired of feeling forced to switch after vivaldi/brave so I went the firefox way last year. The circle is completed.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Chrome update will close the door on ad blockers"}, {"id": 786526864, "item_id": 49157929, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49157929", "by": "VCFundedGenYer", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Do not use Brave for anything. Not now, now then, not ever.", "excerpt": "Do not use Brave for anything. Not now, now then, not ever. https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/do-not-use-brave-browser/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Brave Search", "summary": "Commenters call Brave Search a strong free Google alternative with its own index and a good UI.", "quotes": [{"id": 798594112, "item_id": 49912132, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49912132", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave search is the best alternative to Google.", "excerpt": "Brave search is the best alternative to Google. They have an independent index and good UI. Very rarely do I switch to another engine. Brave does well at surfacing forum threads and the AI summary has been surprisingly good for a while. https://www.privacyguides.org/en/search-engines/", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "Google", "story": "Let's Ditch Google (Verb)"}, {"id": 786503216, "item_id": 49156451, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49156451", "by": "grepex", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "So many people sleep on Brave search. I agree, it's like Google from 08.", "excerpt": "So many people sleep on Brave search. I agree, it's like Google from 08. It just searches for what you ask for. You can disable AI overviews. It's quick. Has a nice UI. It's free lol", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}, {"id": 786502737, "item_id": 49156421, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49156421", "by": "SyneRyder", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you just want a free search engine, Brave is probably the best index.", "excerpt": "If you don't mind paying and someone else having control over your search experience, Kagi is an option. Urkey (sp?) is another new alternative. If you just want a free search engine, Brave is probably the best index. Bonus points to Marginalia for finding the obscure things Brave doesn't surface. But if you want to go down the rabbit hole, it's easy to build your own metasearch engine and search several engines at o", "context": "", "use_case": "free web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}]}, {"label": "Built-in adblock", "summary": "The built-in blocker reduces or removes the need for separate ad-blocking extensions, including on mobile.", "quotes": [{"id": 798085856, "item_id": 49880366, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880366", "by": "behnamoh", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been enjoying Brave for a long time", "excerpt": "I've been enjoying Brave for a long time, and recently I have been using their AI sidebar connected to my own local server, which is so pleasant to use. I can ask questions about a web page or other things. I also like that using Brave has reduced my dependence on ad blockers because Brave itself is really good at blocking ads. In fact, there are some that don't get blocked by uBlock, but then Brave catches them. Not", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing, ad blocking, AI sidebar with local server", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 780067777, "item_id": 48754236, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48754236", "by": "unselect5917", "date": "2026-07-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Why anyone still uses vanilla Chrome for personal use is beyond me while brave exists and is actively maintained.", "excerpt": "I use Ublock on Brave (chromium). Ublock is supposed to be unnecessary with brave alone, but I use it all the time to delete annoying UI elements mostly permanently. Why anyone still uses vanilla Chrome for personal use is beyond me while brave exists and is actively maintained. It's essentially youtube premium for free even on mobile.", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "Chrome", "story": "Sony Deletes 551 Movies PlayStation Owners Paid For"}, {"id": 796855808, "item_id": 49803488, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49803488", "by": "animuchan", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Bonus points for having Brave browser with built-in adblock", "excerpt": "Android user here, switched from iOS (not because of ads, a different gripe). Not going to lie, it's a holistically bad experience, very similar to iOS in this regard. But Android doesn't show ads. The closest thing would be the Google Photos pestering to back up to cloud, things like that. It's per app, and usually there are better apps to replace the offending ones. (And vendor garbage can even be uninstalled, alth", "context": "Android user, switched from iOS", "use_case": "ad-free browsing on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}]}, {"label": "Just works", "summary": "Switchers say migration was quick and the browser stays out of the way.", "quotes": [{"id": 803173057, "item_id": 50198316, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198316", "by": "lnenad", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Brave, migrated in a few minutes literally and feel much better.", "excerpt": "Zen turned to shit for me in the last month. So many stupid bugs started happening. For example, clicking on exes in the downloads would retrigger the download instead of running the file. Random crashes. I was able to drag the whole window by clicking on random parts of the page (I noticed this as I highlight text during reading). It got very slow. I tried to report these but the button to report would actually redi", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Zen Browser", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 801421584, "item_id": 50088849, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50088849", "by": "ghusto", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Switched to Brave a while ago and everything works as it should", "excerpt": "Christ, no thanks. I've tried Safari every time someone raves about it, and every time I've felt vindicated. Switched to Brave a while ago and everything works as it should (i.e. I don't think about my web browser).", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "Safari", "story": "Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome)"}, {"id": 798073424, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave just works, I can use it on all my devices, OSes", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "main browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}]}, {"label": "Chromium compatibility", "summary": "Users value having Chromium under the hood with uBlock Origin, vertical tabs and containers available.", "quotes": [{"id": 788953936, "item_id": 49309621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309621", "by": "therealmarv", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Brave. I want Chromium under the hood.", "excerpt": "I use Brave. I want Chromium under the hood. Firefox on mobile is not good, tried it many times. I also don't trust Firefox Mobile security as much as I trust Brave/Chromium on Android.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin"}, {"id": 792252144, "item_id": 49515759, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49515759", "by": "joshheitzman", "date": "2026-08-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Brave for years and its great.", "excerpt": "I've been using Brave for years and its great. Having JS off by default (i.e. shields) is excellent for security. They provide MV2 versions of AdGuard and uBlock Origin that you can enable directly from the browser settings. Those are also both excellent for security since the main threat is malicious scripts served up by ad networks.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 792498448, "item_id": 49531153, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49531153", "by": "mantra2", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Now that Brave has proper containers, I\u2019m running out of reasons to miss Firefox", "excerpt": "I\u2019ve always been a Firefox fan, and I used it exclusively for quite some time. However, I had to switch back to Brave after they blocked clipboard managers from seeing what you copy in private windows, and there was no way to turn it off. I know about profiles and containers, but this is something I need for my workflow. Now that Brave has proper containers, I\u2019m running out of reasons to miss Firefox other than my id", "context": "needs clipboard manager in private windows", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}]}, {"label": "Security", "summary": "Commenters cite Shields, fast security updates and trust in Chromium's security on Android.", "quotes": [{"id": 792252144, "item_id": 49515759, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49515759", "by": "joshheitzman", "date": "2026-08-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using Brave for years and its great.", "excerpt": "I've been using Brave for years and its great. Having JS off by default (i.e. shields) is excellent for security. They provide MV2 versions of AdGuard and uBlock Origin that you can enable directly from the browser settings. Those are also both excellent for security since the main threat is malicious scripts served up by ad networks.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 797798593, "item_id": 49862412, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49862412", "by": "charcircuit", "date": "2026-09-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave has a 1 day SLA for releasing the update itself after a security fix gets published", "excerpt": "https://github.com/obsproject/obs-browser/pull/523 Not even counting the time it took to make this PR, releasing a security update for the browser took 4 months to merge. For reference Brave has a 1 day SLA for releasing the update itself after a security fix gets published.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "How one Twitch chat message became code execution on a streamer\u2019s PC"}, {"id": 788953936, "item_id": 49309621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309621", "by": "therealmarv", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Brave. I want Chromium under the hood.", "excerpt": "I use Brave. I want Chromium under the hood. Firefox on mobile is not good, tried it many times. I also don't trust Firefox Mobile security as much as I trust Brave/Chromium on Android.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin"}]}, {"label": "Speed", "summary": "Some find it faster and less bloated than Chrome or Firefox.", "quotes": [{"id": 798078544, "item_id": 49879909, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879909", "by": "lenova", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "slowly Brave became my default browser over time due to its adblocking abilities and general speed.", "excerpt": "Ah, the author is Kev Quirk! I really enjoyed his SimpleCSS project: https://github.com/kevquirk/simple.css I also relate to this post: tried to make Firefox my default browser for years, but slowly Brave became my default browser over time due to its adblocking abilities and general speed. That said, Brave is a bit of a UI mess out of the box, with too many of their unnecessary \"features\" like their wallet and crypt", "context": "", "use_case": "default browser", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798085856, "item_id": 49880366, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880366", "by": "behnamoh", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been enjoying Brave for a long time", "excerpt": "I've been enjoying Brave for a long time, and recently I have been using their AI sidebar connected to my own local server, which is so pleasant to use. I can ask questions about a web page or other things. I also like that using Brave has reduced my dependence on ad blockers because Brave itself is really good at blocking ads. In fact, there are some that don't get blocked by uBlock, but then Brave catches them. Not", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing, ad blocking, AI sidebar with local server", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 786567888, "item_id": 49160493, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49160493", "by": "slig", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "a browser that doesn't suck, is fast and has built in ad blocker, fingerprinting blocker and BS blocker", "excerpt": "You do you, I just want a search that shows what I asked and a browser that doesn't suck, is fast and has built in ad blocker, fingerprinting blocker and BS blocker (cookie popup).", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Crypto cruft", "summary": "Wallet, BAT and crypto promotions are pushed on users and need disabling.", "quotes": [{"id": 798078544, "item_id": 49879909, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879909", "by": "lenova", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "slowly Brave became my default browser over time due to its adblocking abilities and general speed.", "excerpt": "Ah, the author is Kev Quirk! I really enjoyed his SimpleCSS project: https://github.com/kevquirk/simple.css I also relate to this post: tried to make Firefox my default browser for years, but slowly Brave became my default browser over time due to its adblocking abilities and general speed. That said, Brave is a bit of a UI mess out of the box, with too many of their unnecessary \"features\" like their wallet and crypt", "context": "", "use_case": "default browser", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 792489921, "item_id": 49530620, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530620", "by": "lern_too_spel", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "why pick one that's filled with crypto ads?", "excerpt": "If you're going to use a Chromium based browser, why pick one that's filled with crypto ads? I use Firefox on mobile because it supports extensions. One of the main benefits of the web is that, unlike proprietary native apps, I get to experience it the way I want. The web is nearly intolerable without extensions.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}, {"id": 792285456, "item_id": 49517841, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517841", "by": "dartharva", "date": "2026-09-01", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the path they're taking with crypto and add-on bloat just feels ickier than most of its competition including Chrome.", "excerpt": "I used to be interested in it but ever since they launched Brave Orion it has become clear they intend to actively monetize the free public versions they have been releasing, and the path they're taking with crypto and add-on bloat just feels ickier than most of its competition including Chrome.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}]}, {"label": "Company trust", "summary": "Some commenters distrust the company or its founder and avoid it entirely.", "quotes": [{"id": 798184672, "item_id": 49886542, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49886542", "by": "anotherevan", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Every time I see mention of \"Brave\" I'm reminded that Brendan left Mozilla because of his contributions to anti-gay rights causes", "excerpt": "> I switched to Brave because Firefox no longer holds the technical or moral high ground. Every time I see mention of \"Brave\" I'm reminded that Brendan left Mozilla because of his contributions to anti-gay rights causes, and then immediately founded a company called \"Brave\". In essence, to me, it felt like he was thumbing his nose and saying it was brave to be a homophobe. So yeah, nah, comparing the moral high groun", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 776922048, "item_id": 48557628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48557628", "by": "entropie", "date": "2026-06-16", "stance": "warn", "quote": "But its obvious that these guys are semi shady and they will show sooner or later.", "excerpt": "I used brave a bit and really liked it. But its obvious that these guys are semi shady and they will show sooner or later. I liked chrome derviates and used them over a decade. I got tired of feeling forced to switch after vivaldi/brave so I went the firefox way last year. The circle is completed.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Chrome update will close the door on ad blockers"}, {"id": 786526864, "item_id": 49157929, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49157929", "by": "VCFundedGenYer", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Do not use Brave for anything. Not now, now then, not ever.", "excerpt": "Do not use Brave for anything. Not now, now then, not ever. https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/do-not-use-brave-browser/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}]}, {"label": "Adblock gaps", "summary": "Some say the built-in blocker misses YouTube ads or trails uBlock Origin at cosmetic filtering.", "quotes": [{"id": 788959632, "item_id": 49309977, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309977", "by": "dbspin", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Brave's ad block is pretty ineffectual by itself. For example it doesn't block youtube adverts.", "excerpt": "Brave's ad block is pretty ineffectual by itself. For example it doesn't block youtube adverts. Recently switched to Firefox with Ublock origin, and loving it. So much more efficient and quick than it was back in the day when we all switched to Chrome.", "context": "", "use_case": "ad blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin"}, {"id": 781143280, "item_id": 48821455, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48821455", "by": "drnick1", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I would suggest staying away from Brave.", "excerpt": "> Edit: and Brave. I would suggest staying away from Brave. I recently compiled the debloated Brave edition from source and was rather disappointed. Brave was slower on my machine than Firefox and Chromium according to Speedometer 3.1. The built-in adblocker does a worse job at cosmetic filtering than uBlock Origin on Firefox. On top of that, I had to build the browser from source because the only binaries I could fi", "context": "compiled debloated Brave from source", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID"}]}, {"label": "Forced autoupdates", "summary": "One long-time user quit because autoupdates cannot be turned off.", "quotes": [{"id": 798157504, "item_id": 49884844, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884844", "by": "shmoobadge", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "stopped when they absolutely refused to even consider letting people turn off autoupdates", "excerpt": "I used Brave for a few years but stopped when they absolutely refused to even consider letting people turn off autoupdates. They got insulting about it after many requests in github. It got a big comedic/tragic.", "context": "used Brave for a few years", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}]}, {"label": "Performance, builds", "summary": "One user measured it slower than Firefox and Chromium and noted non-reproducible builds.", "quotes": [{"id": 781143280, "item_id": 48821455, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48821455", "by": "drnick1", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I would suggest staying away from Brave.", "excerpt": "> Edit: and Brave. I would suggest staying away from Brave. I recently compiled the debloated Brave edition from source and was rather disappointed. Brave was slower on my machine than Firefox and Chromium according to Speedometer 3.1. The built-in adblocker does a worse job at cosmetic filtering than uBlock Origin on Firefox. On top of that, I had to build the browser from source because the only binaries I could fi", "context": "compiled debloated Brave from source", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID"}]}, {"label": "Search speed", "summary": "Brave Search is described as slower than Google.", "quotes": [{"id": 794708688, "item_id": 49669293, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49669293", "by": "parisiansam", "date": "2026-09-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using Brave Search now for a while including its Brave AI and aside of sporadic times I never needed Google", "excerpt": "Been using Brave Search now for a while including its Brave AI and aside of sporadic times I never needed Google (albeit Brave Search is slower to Google, you get used to it)", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "Google Search", "story": "google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update"}]}], "who": [{"by": "gortok", "context": "uses MacBook, Windows desktop, iPhone and iPad", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50089645", "date": "2026-10-14"}, {"by": "user43928", "context": "MacBook user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50089249", "date": "2026-10-14"}, {"by": "mosselman", "context": "tab power user building their own Arc-like browser", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50053248", "date": "2026-10-12"}, {"by": "rpdillon", "context": "paying Brave user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49903199", "date": "2026-09-30"}, {"by": "animuchan", "context": "Android user, switched from iOS", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49803488", "date": "2026-09-22"}, {"by": "mantra2", "context": "needs clipboard manager in private windows", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49531153", "date": "2026-09-02"}, {"by": "andai", "context": "old Thinkpad user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530948", "date": "2026-09-02"}, {"by": "pure-orange", "context": "iOS user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49450426", "date": "2026-08-26"}, {"by": "antibarbarus", "context": "Linux user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49255677", "date": "2026-08-11"}, {"by": "DaveZale", "context": "Linux user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48912592", "date": "2026-07-14"}, {"by": "benabbott", "context": "iPhone user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48497050", "date": "2026-06-11"}, {"by": "KetoManx64", "context": "paid for Brave Origin, used Brave as secondary browser for years", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48421342", "date": "2026-06-05"}], "tags": ["for Chrome switchers", "for Linux users", "for Android users", "for PWAs", "for iOS users"], "use_cases": ["web search", "web browsing", "daily browser", "web browser", "browsing", "main browser"], "compared": [{"slug": "firefox", "name": "Firefox", "co": 56, "switched_from": 10, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "chrome", "name": "Chrome", "co": 31, "switched_from": 5, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "kagi", "name": "Kagi", "co": 16, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "duckduckgo", "name": "DuckDuckGo", "co": 16, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "safari", "name": "Safari", "co": 12, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "ublock-origin", "name": "uBlock Origin", "co": 13, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "vivaldi", "name": "Vivaldi", "co": 10, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "orion", "name": "Orion", "co": 5, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 3}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49878759", "title": "I switched to Brave", "mentions": 16}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49155492", "title": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?", "mentions": 11}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49514878", "title": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO", "mentions": 7}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49527748", "title": "Hang on to Your Firefox", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48471970", "title": "Google Chrome is killing all uBlock Origin bypasses, Edge, Opera to follow", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48266051", "title": "Search engines alternatives now that Google isn't Google anymore", "mentions": 4}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 3, "compare": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {"warn": 2, "recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 3, "neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {"neutral": 2, "recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 3, "compare": 1, "warn": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 6, "warn": 2, "neutral": 2}, "2026-06": {"compare": 1, "recommend": 10, "neutral": 5, "warn": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 6, "neutral": 4, "warn": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 16, "warn": 4, "neutral": 6}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 6, "warn": 6, "recommend": 14, "compare": 1}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 7, "neutral": 7}}, "quotes": [{"id": 803203520, "item_id": 50200220, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50200220", "by": "gilrain", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Brave.", "excerpt": "This site serves me garbage. Iocaine, I think? I use Brave. \"If you are not [a bot], and you feel you have been served garbage by mistake, please contact the owner of the site you're visiting.\" If anyone knows another way to access the content, I'd be interested. No contact details are offered and visiting mastodon.catgirl.cloud resets my connection.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "A complete bypass of eMudhra\u2019s 1FA OTP login system"}, {"id": 803173057, "item_id": 50198316, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198316", "by": "lnenad", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Brave, migrated in a few minutes literally and feel much better.", "excerpt": "Zen turned to shit for me in the last month. So many stupid bugs started happening. For example, clicking on exes in the downloads would retrigger the download instead of running the file. Random crashes. I was able to drag the whole window by clicking on random parts of the page (I noticed this as I highlight text during reading). It got very slow. I tried to report these but the button to report would actually redi", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Zen Browser", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 803172433, "item_id": 50198277, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198277", "by": "jaffa2", "date": "2026-10-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "i use brave, chrome for google stuff, firefox if i need a third browser", "excerpt": "i too like vivaldi for the same reasons. i use brave, chrome for google stuff, firefox if i need a third browser but i use vivaldi mostly. except on mac where i still use safari", "context": "", "use_case": "secondary browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "A farewell to Arc browser"}, {"id": 801864801, "item_id": 50116550, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50116550", "by": "cromka", "date": "2026-10-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Brave and see no reason why would anyone chose differently.", "excerpt": "That's my experience as well. Also need to intentionally disable it e.g. when using Cashback sites. And you can't easily do that with a single click. Not to mention it only can do DNS blocking, so you still need an in browser AdBlock for more advanced stuff. I use Brave and see no reason why would anyone chose differently. Maybe if they use freemium apps on their phones with a ton of ads?", "context": "", "use_case": "browser with ad blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "What I self-host"}, {"id": 801864096, "item_id": 50116506, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50116506", "by": "cromka", "date": "2026-10-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Brave and never had a kneed for AdGuard", "excerpt": "I use Brave and never had a kneed for AdGuard, specifically because of how it uses VPN. Then I use Wireguard to seamlessly access my home setup. Honestly, I choose security and very little admin anxiety over random ads in other, non-browser apps or sites.", "context": "", "use_case": "ad blocking in browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "What I self-host"}, {"id": 801434322, "item_id": 50089645, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50089645", "by": "gortok", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Firefox, edge, brave across these devices.", "excerpt": "This is the issue. I can\u2019t adopt Passkeys if I\u2019m not certain they\u2019re going to work as well as my password manager and Authenticator app, which is to say 100% of the time. When sites ask to set up passkeys, it\u2019s usually native passkeys (especially on iOS). And figuring out how to get the flow to set up a LastPass key by default seems unusually difficult. I also use a MacBook, windows desktop, an iPhone and iPad. I use", "context": "uses MacBook, Windows desktop, iPhone and iPad", "use_case": "browsing across devices", "switched_from": "", "story": "Passkeys are not a trap"}, {"id": 801427984, "item_id": 50089249, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50089249", "by": "user43928", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Brave and 1Password.", "excerpt": "I think PassKeys are great. On my MacBook with the latest macOS I still can't use them. I use Brave and 1Password. Clicking the Use Passkey button typically results in some Chrome Bluetooth permission dialog rather than accessing my PassKeys. I tried to look into this once or twice with no success. I suspect macOS is at fault. Apple does not seem to care about getting basic functionality right. To this day Universal ", "context": "MacBook user", "use_case": "browsing with passkeys", "switched_from": "", "story": "Passkeys are not a trap"}, {"id": 801421584, "item_id": 50088849, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50088849", "by": "ghusto", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Switched to Brave a while ago and everything works as it should", "excerpt": "Christ, no thanks. I've tried Safari every time someone raves about it, and every time I've felt vindicated. Switched to Brave a while ago and everything works as it should (i.e. I don't think about my web browser).", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "Safari", "story": "Apple: Switch to Safari (From Chrome)"}, {"id": 801307680, "item_id": 50081730, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081730", "by": "pswar444", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Brave. All good and don't see any reason to switch", "excerpt": "I use Brave. All good and don't see any reason to switch", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple's new 'Switch to Safari' campaign details why you should ditch Chrome"}, {"id": 801259856, "item_id": 50078741, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50078741", "by": "yipinwong", "date": "2026-10-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used to use Brave and it had no issues on YT.", "excerpt": "I used to use Brave and it had no issues on YT. I stopped using Brave for no reason i don't remember. (no, not to do with the CEO)", "context": "", "use_case": "YouTube browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple's new 'Switch to Safari' campaign details why you should ditch Chrome"}, {"id": 800851968, "item_id": 50053248, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50053248", "by": "mosselman", "date": "2026-10-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I am a tab power user, in Brave I had 370 tabs \u201copen\u201d.", "excerpt": "I am sort of working on the same thing. It is mostly for my own use so far, I might share it at some point. What I\u2019ve focused on besides the basic features of the arc sidebar is memory usage. I am a tab power user, in Brave I had 370 tabs \u201copen\u201d. Each tab still takes resources when asleep though. But I use these tabs more as bookmarks. So they are asleep 99.99% of the time, if not more. The browser I\u2019ve been working ", "context": "tab power user building their own Arc-like browser", "use_case": "web browsing with many tabs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Crest \u2013 an Arc-inspired open-source browser for Mac"}, {"id": 799764195, "item_id": 49985262, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49985262", "by": "pogue", "date": "2026-10-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "That + Brave and I'm pretty much ad free.", "excerpt": "I used NextDNS for a long time, but they offer absolutely zero support for their customers. I ended up just switching to Control D's free tier using the Hagezi blocklist. You can try Normal, Pro & Pro+ for typical usage (I stick to pro normally). That + Brave and I'm pretty much ad free. https://docs.controld.com/docs/free-dns", "context": "", "use_case": "ad-free browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "System-level ad-blocking in Android"}, {"id": 799089824, "item_id": 49943114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49943114", "by": "clivedup", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Brave, and it's great", "excerpt": "> We also chose to build it the hard way by not forking Chromium. Bad call, because it's genuinely too hard for someone the size of Kagi, as they've discovered. There's room for a Chromium fork that has a better reputation than Brave. (I use Brave, and it's great, but I realise many people don't want to use it.)", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "An Update on Orion for Linux and Windows"}, {"id": 799075009, "item_id": 49942188, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49942188", "by": "delis-thumbs-7e", "date": "2026-10-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "watch yt on Brave", "excerpt": "Maybe it is for better. I used Orion as my main browser for awhile on iOS, but then it started getting weird bugs. Now I have both Safari and Firefox open all the time and watch yt on Brave. I try to see if they got Orion to behave again, but find a bit difficult to trust it as the main browser.", "context": "", "use_case": "watching YouTube", "switched_from": "", "story": "An Update on Orion for Linux and Windows"}, {"id": 798941266, "item_id": 49933829, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49933829", "by": "spottedmarley", "date": "2026-10-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave (Browser, but the extensions are mine)", "excerpt": "Nobody will pay (well, i guess some will still pay) I've already spent the past several months systematically replacing every piece of software I can with my own, better, custom versions. Desktop apps, AI-tools, Android apps, I even replaced all of my chrome extensions with one extension that does all the things I used to use all of the old extensions for, and it does all the things better and none of the things I ne", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Anyone Can Build an App Now, but Who Is Going to Pay for It?"}, {"id": 798594112, "item_id": 49912132, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49912132", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave search is the best alternative to Google.", "excerpt": "Brave search is the best alternative to Google. They have an independent index and good UI. Very rarely do I switch to another engine. Brave does well at surfacing forum threads and the AI summary has been surprisingly good for a while. https://www.privacyguides.org/en/search-engines/", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "Google", "story": "Let's Ditch Google (Verb)"}, {"id": 798590977, "item_id": 49911936, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49911936", "by": "Magicrafter13", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Brave is good, no doubt.", "excerpt": "> It's developers not testing their web apps with Firefox, since it has such a small market share. This is exactly why I still use Firefox. Brave is good, no doubt. I keep it installed for the blue moons where I want a Chromium browser for something. But I refuse to contribute to the Chromium monopoly. Every time I use a Chromium browser, I'm telling web developers that its okay to discriminate against other browser ", "context": "", "use_case": "occasional Chromium browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798451184, "item_id": 49903199, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49903199", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the version of Brave that I use doesn't collect telemetry or serve ads because I paid for it", "excerpt": "It's about alignment of interests. They believe that there is a business that is valuable selling a user-centric browser. A user-centric browser does not exist today. Google Chrome is a frog-boiling exercise where they slowly take away freedoms to run, for example, ad-blocking in the browser and they do so under the name of security. They've already tried to push the web integrity initiative. They'll try again. Mozil", "context": "paying Brave user", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798295936, "item_id": 49893496, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49893496", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "They are built around creating a user-centric browser, and need to monetize.", "excerpt": "They are built around creating a user-centric browser, and need to monetize. They are actively moving to business models that are more privacy-focused (charging for the browser!) but no one talks about that. Meanwhile, I'm not sure who you'd prefer. If we're pushing Firefox here, I'd strongly recommend folks compare and contrast Brave's policies with Firefox: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/privacy/firefox/#how-is-your", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798184672, "item_id": 49886542, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49886542", "by": "anotherevan", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Every time I see mention of \"Brave\" I'm reminded that Brendan left Mozilla because of his contributions to anti-gay rights causes", "excerpt": "> I switched to Brave because Firefox no longer holds the technical or moral high ground. Every time I see mention of \"Brave\" I'm reminded that Brendan left Mozilla because of his contributions to anti-gay rights causes, and then immediately founded a company called \"Brave\". In essence, to me, it felt like he was thumbing his nose and saying it was brave to be a homophobe. So yeah, nah, comparing the moral high groun", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798182976, "item_id": 49886436, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49886436", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-29", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave is my daily driver.", "excerpt": "This isn't accurate. Mozilla stopped focusing on their core product, which was the browser. Brave has desperately been trying to monetize the creation of a privacy-focused browser for some time, much to the chagrin of folks on HN. I decided to pay for their open source offering, which doesn't have any of that. The hate for Brave is some combination of people dredging up issues from very early in their existence and m", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798168368, "item_id": 49885523, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49885523", "by": "rat_on_the_run", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "A few features of Brave that I find special and useful", "excerpt": "I tried to use Firefox. But it's just harder to use: (1) Cannot have multiple bookmarks open as tabs and stay in different location. (2) History is not actually history. The entries update instead of stay as a record. I honestly cannot understand the decision to make it like this. (3) A bug that lasted for years. I have thousands of bookmarks and I'm not sure if it's because of that, often when I add bookmarks in fir", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browsing", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798157504, "item_id": 49884844, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884844", "by": "shmoobadge", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "stopped when they absolutely refused to even consider letting people turn off autoupdates", "excerpt": "I used Brave for a few years but stopped when they absolutely refused to even consider letting people turn off autoupdates. They got insulting about it after many requests in github. It got a big comedic/tragic.", "context": "used Brave for a few years", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798153154, "item_id": 49884572, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884572", "by": "ragequittah", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Brave: Crypto nonsense, all kinds of advertising for their crap everywhere", "excerpt": "I always try to parse this \"Mozilla is doing bad\" as I've been using Firefox for years and other than features I want (vertical tabs, firefox relay, and a few other minor things) I couldn't tell you the difference of Firefox now vs 5 years ago vs 10 years ago. And the \"shooting yourself in the foot\" things talked about are always something that pretty much all other browser companies do but 10 times worse. I think th", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798146576, "item_id": 49884161, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884161", "by": "AbstractH24", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Main reason I keep using Brave is its \"good enfough.\"", "excerpt": "Main reason I keep using Brave is its \"good enfough.\" The CTO at my company recommended Brave in 2019; I figured why not and have found a compelling reason to change. The \"elephant in the room\" paragraph actually is making me consider Vivaldi. Its still Chromium, so it will support all my plugins, and I use NextDNS so most of ads will be blocked anyway. And its not like its amazing, but I've just never heard anyone r", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798145744, "item_id": 49884109, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884109", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Those work now? That's impressive.", "excerpt": ">Brave Experimental Adblock rules for blocking twitch.tv ads Those work now? That's impressive. I used to VPN to some east European country after I couldn't get adblock working.", "context": "", "use_case": "blocking twitch.tv ads", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798144240, "item_id": 49884015, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49884015", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave gets far too much hate on this site and is actually the best browser made today", "excerpt": "Just as a counterpoint, I switched to Brave because Firefox no longer holds the technical or moral high ground. Brave is an open-source browser which makes it different from Chrome and Vivaldi. Brave is a privacy-focused browser. Brave is the only browser that is open source and also lets me pay for it so I can have a clean, uncluttered, fast experience. Brave is the only chromium-based browser that I'm aware of that", "context": "", "use_case": "daily browser", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798139072, "item_id": 49883692, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49883692", "by": "yipinwong", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Never do I use brave ever because one incident I forgot about", "excerpt": "nowadays, it's just one thing that catches one's interest that sticks. I use edge sometimes, chrome once in awhile, FF etc. Never do I use brave ever because one incident I forgot about (not about the founder), and it was good enough reason not to go back.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798092816, "item_id": 49880801, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880801", "by": "vincent-uden", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Does it do anything beyond ad-blocking over chrome?", "excerpt": "Huh, that does look nice. Its been a long time since I used Brave last. Does it do anything beyond ad-blocking over chrome? If not I don't think I can be be bothered to switch from one ad-blocking chrome to another, just to due inertia and my lazyness.", "context": "", "use_case": "ad-blocking browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798085856, "item_id": 49880366, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49880366", "by": "behnamoh", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been enjoying Brave for a long time", "excerpt": "I've been enjoying Brave for a long time, and recently I have been using their AI sidebar connected to my own local server, which is so pleasant to use. I can ask questions about a web page or other things. I also like that using Brave has reduced my dependence on ad blockers because Brave itself is really good at blocking ads. In fact, there are some that don't get blocked by uBlock, but then Brave catches them. Not", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing, ad blocking, AI sidebar with local server", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798078544, "item_id": 49879909, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879909", "by": "lenova", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "slowly Brave became my default browser over time due to its adblocking abilities and general speed.", "excerpt": "Ah, the author is Kev Quirk! I really enjoyed his SimpleCSS project: https://github.com/kevquirk/simple.css I also relate to this post: tried to make Firefox my default browser for years, but slowly Brave became my default browser over time due to its adblocking abilities and general speed. That said, Brave is a bit of a UI mess out of the box, with too many of their unnecessary \"features\" like their wallet and crypt", "context": "", "use_case": "default browser", "switched_from": "Firefox", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 798073424, "item_id": 49879589, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49879589", "by": "atraac", "date": "2026-09-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave just works, I can use it on all my devices, OSes", "excerpt": "Also been using Brave for a while. All the crypto stuff needs to be turned off but besides that for me, it's just better Chrome. Firefox always felt slower to me, Safari is just a weird kid from the neighborhood I could never get to like. I LOVED Arc. I think its a near perfect browser, but lack of proper mobile browser and Browser Company dropping Arc in favor of the new rebranded Arc with AI just left me with distr", "context": "", "use_case": "main browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "I switched to Brave"}, {"id": 797822753, "item_id": 49863922, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49863922", "by": "hobo123", "date": "2026-09-27", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Brave only to stream web radio while in the kitchen.", "excerpt": "Mobile Firefox with background playing is really bad, do they just stop everything \"to save battery?\" I use Brave only to stream web radio while in the kitchen.", "context": "", "use_case": "streaming web radio", "switched_from": "", "story": "PipePipe: NewPipe hard fork implementing SponsorBlock"}, {"id": 797798593, "item_id": 49862412, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49862412", "by": "charcircuit", "date": "2026-09-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave has a 1 day SLA for releasing the update itself after a security fix gets published", "excerpt": "https://github.com/obsproject/obs-browser/pull/523 Not even counting the time it took to make this PR, releasing a security update for the browser took 4 months to merge. For reference Brave has a 1 day SLA for releasing the update itself after a security fix gets published.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "How one Twitch chat message became code execution on a streamer\u2019s PC"}, {"id": 796855808, "item_id": 49803488, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49803488", "by": "animuchan", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Bonus points for having Brave browser with built-in adblock", "excerpt": "Android user here, switched from iOS (not because of ads, a different gripe). Not going to lie, it's a holistically bad experience, very similar to iOS in this regard. But Android doesn't show ads. The closest thing would be the Google Photos pestering to back up to cloud, things like that. It's per app, and usually there are better apps to replace the offending ones. (And vendor garbage can even be uninstalled, alth", "context": "Android user, switched from iOS", "use_case": "ad-free browsing on Android", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 796478544, "item_id": 49779909, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49779909", "by": "sergiotapia", "date": "2026-09-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Highly recommend you use Brave Browser and avoid all this nastiness.", "excerpt": "Highly recommend you use Brave Browser and avoid all this nastiness. If you haven't browsed the web in a browser like Chrome recently, you should try it in a VM or something. It's GRIM. The Web is a wasteland and it's gotten worse because ai chatsites are eating their lunch to the ads are even worse than 10 years ago. https://brave.com/", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "ChatGPT now knows what you do on other websites via ad collector"}, {"id": 794708688, "item_id": 49669293, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49669293", "by": "parisiansam", "date": "2026-09-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using Brave Search now for a while including its Brave AI and aside of sporadic times I never needed Google", "excerpt": "Been using Brave Search now for a while including its Brave AI and aside of sporadic times I never needed Google (albeit Brave Search is slower to Google, you get used to it)", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "Google Search", "story": "google.com/goto: Google's anti-scraping update"}, {"id": 793793202, "item_id": 49612075, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49612075", "by": "randcraw", "date": "2026-09-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "using both Firefox and Brave", "excerpt": "I get reCaptchaed-to-death all the time in iOS and MacOS using both Firefox and Brave. I use a big name VPN which probably makes it worse, since I'm routinely blocked outright by Cloudfare services, assuming cluelessly that I'm a bot.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Are others seeing Google's reCAPTCHA rejecting Firefox users?"}, {"id": 793669537, "item_id": 49604346, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49604346", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-09-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave is also a valid choice on Mobile because of the better adblocking.", "excerpt": "I use Vanadium on mobile and Brave on desktop\u2013I think those are the best options. Brave is also a valid choice on Mobile because of the better adblocking. https://grapheneos.org/usage#web-browsing", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "My practical approach to surfing the web safely"}, {"id": 793133888, "item_id": 49570868, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49570868", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-09-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave is beating GrapheneOS on update timeliness", "excerpt": "Brave is beating GrapheneOS on update timeliness: https://github.com/GrapheneOS/Vanadium/releases https://github.com/brave/brave-browser/releases Only if you use Nightly wait maybe not.", "context": "", "use_case": "browser security updates", "switched_from": "", "story": "Actively exploited sandbox RCE in all Chromium versions"}, {"id": 792495168, "item_id": 49530948, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530948", "by": "andai", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "So the closest thing for me (Chrome minus Google) was Brave.", "excerpt": "Firefox was slow on my computer (old Thinkpad). I tried using Degoogled Chromium but it kept crashing. So the closest thing for me (Chrome minus Google) was Brave. Vivaldi is cool (I loved Opera 20 years ago) but very laggy on my machine. (They did the UI in JavaScript or something.) I use both now (Brave and Firefox), when I want to use a second account. And Firefox scrolls PDFs more smoothly. (But Chrome-based brow", "context": "old Thinkpad user", "use_case": "main browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}, {"id": 792489921, "item_id": 49530620, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49530620", "by": "lern_too_spel", "date": "2026-09-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "why pick one that's filled with crypto ads?", "excerpt": "If you're going to use a Chromium based browser, why pick one that's filled with crypto ads? I use Firefox on mobile because it supports extensions. One of the main benefits of the web is that, unlike proprietary native apps, I get to experience it the way I want. The web is nearly intolerable without extensions.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Hang on to Your Firefox"}, {"id": 792285456, "item_id": 49517841, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49517841", "by": "dartharva", "date": "2026-09-01", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the path they're taking with crypto and add-on bloat just feels ickier than most of its competition including Chrome.", "excerpt": "I used to be interested in it but ever since they launched Brave Orion it has become clear they intend to actively monetize the free public versions they have been releasing, and the path they're taking with crypto and add-on bloat just feels ickier than most of its competition including Chrome.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 792260048, "item_id": 49516253, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49516253", "by": "zhivota", "date": "2026-08-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it as a browser.", "excerpt": "I love it as a browser. The startup screen shocks me every now and then, pimping some crypto shit or another, but other than that, it's good.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browser", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO"}, {"id": 788953936, "item_id": 49309621, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49309621", "by": "therealmarv", "date": "2026-08-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Brave. I want Chromium under the hood.", "excerpt": "I use Brave. I want Chromium under the hood. Firefox on mobile is not good, tried it many times. I also don't trust Firefox Mobile security as much as I trust Brave/Chromium on Android.", "context": "", "use_case": "web browsing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Firefox is now the last major browser that still supports uBlock Origin"}, {"id": 787611072, "item_id": 49225692, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49225692", "by": "lelanthran", "date": "2026-08-08", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Brave's builtin adblocker is pretty great as well.", "excerpt": "> Isn't Brave okay? Sure it is. I use both Brave and FF (FF more than Brave, TBH). Brave's builtin adblocker is pretty great as well.", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing with ad blocking", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft Edge is about to lock out older ad blockers, just like Chrome did"}, {"id": 786526864, "item_id": 49157929, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49157929", "by": "VCFundedGenYer", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Do not use Brave for anything. Not now, now then, not ever.", "excerpt": "Do not use Brave for anything. Not now, now then, not ever. https://www.kevinmuldoon.com/do-not-use-brave-browser/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}, {"id": 786502737, "item_id": 49156421, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49156421", "by": "SyneRyder", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you just want a free search engine, Brave is probably the best index.", "excerpt": "If you don't mind paying and someone else having control over your search experience, Kagi is an option. Urkey (sp?) is another new alternative. If you just want a free search engine, Brave is probably the best index. Bonus points to Marginalia for finding the obscure things Brave doesn't surface. But if you want to go down the rabbit hole, it's easy to build your own metasearch engine and search several engines at o", "context": "", "use_case": "free web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What are the viable alternatives to DuckDuckGo?"}, {"id": 784171840, "item_id": 49010740, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49010740", "by": "MattTheRealOne", "date": "2026-07-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I have been using Brave Search since its launch and it has been great in my experience.", "excerpt": "Same. I have been using Brave Search since its launch and it has been great in my experience. I also love that it has its own index. I have tried the free Kagi trial and it seems to work well, but I can't justify the cost for little to no benefit and it still depends on bigger search engines for indexing.", "context": "", "use_case": "web search", "switched_from": "", "story": "Back to Kagi"}, {"id": 780067777, "item_id": 48754236, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48754236", "by": "unselect5917", "date": "2026-07-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Why anyone still uses vanilla Chrome for personal use is beyond me while brave exists and is actively maintained.", "excerpt": "I use Ublock on Brave (chromium). Ublock is supposed to be unnecessary with brave alone, but I use it all the time to delete annoying UI elements mostly permanently. Why anyone still uses vanilla Chrome for personal use is beyond me while brave exists and is actively maintained. It's essentially youtube premium for free even on mobile.", "context": "", "use_case": "browsing", "switched_from": "Chrome", "story": "Sony Deletes 551 Movies PlayStation Owners Paid For"}, {"id": 776922048, "item_id": 48557628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48557628", "by": "entropie", "date": "2026-06-16", "stance": "warn", "quote": "But its obvious that these guys are semi shady and they will show sooner or later.", "excerpt": "I used brave a bit and really liked it. But its obvious that these guys are semi shady and they will show sooner or later. I liked chrome derviates and used them over a decade. I got tired of feeling forced to switch after vivaldi/brave so I went the firefox way last year. The circle is completed.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google Chrome update will close the door on ad blockers"}]}