LibreWolf
A privacy-focused fork of Firefox with telemetry removed and hardened default settings.
HN commenters like LibreWolf as a near drop-in Firefox replacement123 that leaves out Mozilla's AI features, ads and other additions4567 and ships stricter privacy defaults.8910 The main caveats are site breakage from its anti-tracking and defaults that are a hard sell for typical users111213, plus a macOS Gatekeeper deprecation warning and some employers treating it as an unauthorized app.1415
Why people recommend it
No Mozilla extras · 3
Switchers say it leaves out the AI features, URL-bar ads and other additions they dislike in Firefox.
“Instead of Firefox I use(d) LibreWolf which strips out all the Mozilla trash.”
“Why do you think Waterfox and Librewolf leave this crap out?”
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“I switched to LibreWolf. Haven't looked back since, its basically a drop in replacement”
Privacy defaults · 3
Commenters value its anti-tracking and privacy-focused defaults, such as disabling WebGL.
“I've been using LibreWolf (FF based) for years now and I love this thing.”
“I use LibreWolf which disables creating WebGL API by default and I don't have this issue.”
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“I have been on Librewolf for years. I use it on my personal machine and work machine.”
Drop-in replacement · 3
Firefox users say it works with their existing add-ons and container workflows, such as uBlock Origin.
“I switched to LibreWolf. Haven't looked back since, its basically a drop in replacement”
“I switched to LibreWolf, use uBlock Origin”
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“I use librewolf too with privacy badger and librejs - good browser”
Long-term use · 3
Several users say they have run it for years and never looked back.
“I've been using LibreWolf (FF based) for years now and I love this thing.”
“I have been on Librewolf for years. I use it on my personal machine and work machine.”
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“I switched to Librewolf when this happened and never looked back”
Caveats and dissent
Site breakage · 1
One long-time user says its anti-tracking settings cause frequent issues.
“I've been using LibreWolf (FF based) for years now and I love this thing.”
Unusual defaults · 2
Some find it a hard sell for regular users and recommend browsers with more usual defaults instead.
“I use Libre but I understand it’s a hard sell.”
“LobreWolf is a good recommendation”
macOS install · 1
One user reports a warning that the macOS package is deprecated for failing the Gatekeeper check.
“librewolf has been deprecated because it does not pass the macOS Gatekeeper check!”
Workplace approval · 1
One user reports several organizations raising concerns that it is not an authorized app.
“then continued with LibreWolf”
Font tweaks · 1
One switcher says you may need to adjust font settings.
“I switched to LibreWolf. Haven't looked back since, its basically a drop in replacement”
Often compared with
6 moved from Firefox to LibreWolf
1 moved from LibreWolf to Mullvad BrowserChrome2 comments mention both
1 moved from Chrome to LibreWolf
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Firefox Enterprise 1 mention
- PipePipe: NewPipe hard fork implementing SponsorBlock 1 mention
- Mistral X Mozilla: Private, Multilingual AI Browsing 1 mention
- Hang on to Your Firefox 1 mention
- Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO 1 mention
- Ask HN: What browser do you use? 1 mention
Also written as Librewolf. Data: librewolf.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 24
“then continued with LibreWolf”
“I use Firefox (and Librewolf), and have no issues.”
“Fyi, you may want to check out Librewolf: https://librewolf.net/”
“I've been using LibreWolf (FF based) for years now and I love this thing.”
“I use Libre but I understand it’s a hard sell.”
“Have you tried any other firefox based browsers, like Zen, or LibreWolf?”
“LobreWolf is a good recommendation”
“I use librewolf too with privacy badger and librejs - good browser”
“Dillo on the netbook, Librewolf on the NUC”
“running Librewolf in gVisor”
“Browsers: - Librewolf”
“Librewolf is also good, and I use that on one of my other machines.”
“I switched to Librewolf a while ago.”
“I use LibreWolf which disables creating WebGL API by default and I don't have this issue.”
“I switched to LibreWolf, use uBlock Origin”
“I switched to LibreWolf. Haven't looked back since, its basically a drop in replacement”
“I use an exotic browser (LibreWolf) running teams.”
“I have been on Librewolf for years. I use it on my personal machine and work machine.”
“Why do you think Waterfox and Librewolf leave this crap out?”
“I switched to Librewolf when this happened and never looked back”
“librewolf has been deprecated because it does not pass the macOS Gatekeeper check!”
“Instead of Firefox I use(d) LibreWolf which strips out all the Mozilla trash.”
“I use LibreWolf because IMO vanilla Firefox is just as disgusting and useless as Google Chrome.”
“change the browser to the Mullvad Browser or and librewolf”