29 Cool Alternative Web Browsers You Didn’t Know | 2023 Edition

We all use web browsers to get information, update our social profiles, and know what’s going on worldwide. If you are a Windows or Mac user, you are probably using Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, or Opera.

There are many alternative browsers available in the market that you probably haven’t heard of. They offer various unique and easy-to-use features.

If you are an extreme multitask user who is always curious to know about new software and tools, then you will absolutely find this list informative and interesting. It includes cool alternative web browsers for all the latest devices, including tablets, smartphones, and desktops.

Did you know: WorldWideWeb (later renamed Nexus) was the first web browser, invented by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1990.

29. Dillo

Platform: GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X

Dillo is a free, minimalistic web browser written in C and C++. It is based on Fast Light Toolkit, which is known for its speed and small footprint. It can help web developers obey web standing through a bug meter, which detects bugs at parsing time.

Pros

• Fast
• Small footprints
• Friendly to both users and developers

Cons

• Looks outdated

The browser features tabbed browsing, bookmarks, support for jpeg, png, and gif images, and XHTML with CSS rendering. Home page, fonts, download folder, and background color can be customized via configuration files.

28. QtWeb

Platform: Windows, macOS X, Linux

QtWeb is an open-source web browser based on Nokia’s Qt framework and Apple’s Webkit rendering engine. It is a lightweight, secure, and fast web browser developed by LogicWare & LSoft Technologies.

Pros

• Lightweight and fast
• Customizable user interface
• Easy access to most privacy functions
• Friendly to both users and developers

Cons

• No plug-Ins/add-ons management

It includes an ad filtering function, pop-up blocking, privacy mode, mouse gesture, web inspector for debugging webpages, customizable keyboard shortcuts & search engine.

27. GreenBrowser

Platform: Windows

GreenBrowser is a fast and most configurable web browser based on Internet Explorer’s core. It is compact in size and consumes fewer system resources.

Pros

• Comes with a powerful ad filter
• Page Manager
• Auto save pages

Cons

• UI looks outdated

Some of its key features are ad filter, save pages as a group, boss key, mouse gesture, page manager, status bar, video player, page background color, etc. It also has numerous useful plugins, which can be added to the external toolbar.

26. Browzer

Platform: Windows

Browzer is a free privacy-oriented web browser that doesn’t save cookies, history, temp files cache, and passwords. This is great for banking and cloud applications. It automatically clears all data when you close the browser.

Pros

• Easy to use
• Total browsing privacy
• Popup management

Cons

• Doesn’t get regular updates

Moreover, it supports auto-complete blocking, crash protection & recovery, homepage customization, secure file deletion, pop-up management, and Index.dat cleanup.

25. Coowon Browser

Platform: Windows

You must install it if you are a gamer. Coowon is Google Chrome-based Browser built with some unique features that are perfect for web gamers. It helps you perform game botting, play & record mouse clicks, control game speed, and has Gamepad support.

Pros

• Gamepad support
• Login to different accounts simultaneously in special tabs
• Record your mouse clicks and key strokes

Cons

• Not ideal for regular users

It also features mouse gestures, drag to go, multiple login tabs, reopen close tab buttons, and translucent and floating windows. It is currently available for Windows and Mac OS.

24. Pale Moon

Platform: Windows, Linux

Pale Moon is a slightly modified version of Firefox with some changes like it includes WebRTC, PDF viewer, 64-bit computing support, hardware acceleration, and few customizable options like status bar & scrolling. It supports Windows parental controls, numerous Firefox extensions, and themes.

Pros

• Optimized for modern processors
• Fully customizable interface with plenty of gradients and fonts
• Supports lightweight themes

Cons

• Lacks privacy-protecting features

This open-source tool aims to provide close adherence to a balanced set of web standards and specifications in its implementation. It purposefully excludes some functions to strike a balance between technical advancements, performance, and general use of the Web.

23. SlimBrowser

Platform: Windows

SlimBrowser is a lightning-fast browser that uses the Microsoft Trident layout engine. This is a great alternative web browser for Windows in terms of time-saving.

Pros

• Instant photo upload and photo framing
• Built-in download manager
• Save the screenshot of a whole page

Cons

• No bandwidth-saving option

It features an auto form filter, one-click Facebook integration, fast download manager, YouTube video downloading, Web page translation, popup blocker, blacklist/whitelist filtering, and integration with an online virus scanner.

22. iCab

Platform: Mac

iCab is an alternative web browser for Mac with numerous useful features such as ad filter, adjust rendering, JavaScript & cookie setting for individual webpages.

Pros

• Blocks undesirable content like pop-ups
• Downloads webpages for offline access
• Open source code of a page in a text editor

Cons

• Form filling doesn’t work every time

It is also packed with sorted history by title, user agent spoofing, full-screen display, reload a single image (without refreshing the whole webpage), and multiple language support.

21. Superbird

Platform: Windows

Superbird is a free alternative to Google Chrome. The difference is that Chrome tracks all your information, whereas Superbird doesn’t send any data to Google or other third parties.

Pros

• No data is sent to third-party apps
• Low memory consumption
• A lot of Plugins are available

Cons

• Doesn’t get updated regularly

It mainly focuses on speed, stability, and data security. Moreover, it uses low memory as compared to Chrome and supports lots of plugins.

20. Avant Browser

Platform: Windows

Avant is a freeware web browser (with no ads, no malware, and no spyware) that uses the Trident layout engine. It is a low memory usage browser with a user-friendly interface and ultra-fast processing.

Pros

• User-friendly interface
• Blocks annoying pop-ups
• Infinitely customizable

Cons

• Does not come with anti-spyware, antivirus, anti-phishing tools

It offers you a reliable, crash-free browsing experience and more frequent updates. Avant is packed with tons of features like multi-threaded downloader, low CPU usage, no memory leak, online bookmarks, multi-document interface, mouse gesture, flash animation filter, popup, and ad blocker.

19. Lunascape

Platform: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android

Lunascape contains three rendering engines: Webkit, Trident, and Gecko. The web browser allows the user to switch between layout engines seamlessly.

Pros

• Flick Gesture and tabbed browsing with sliding finger
• RSS Reader and eBook Reader
• Can be fully customized for your technical needs

Cons

• Difficult to change settings

It is packed with tons of features like a versatile tab menu, customize mouse action, switch user agent, block unwanted URLs, tickers to display headlines from major news sources, bookmark synchronization, automatic backups, and much more.

18. Konqueror Browser

Platform: Linux

Konqueror Browser is based on HTML and Webkit engine. It consists of ad-block, pop-up blocker, password manager, bookmark manager, webpage translation, spell checker, tabbed, and split browsing. It works well with panels that can be rearranged or added.

Pros

• In-built spell checker
• File management on FTP and SFTP servers
• Embedded tools to preview files

Cons

• Fewer customization options

The browser does everything in clean, flexible containers using fewer system resources. With multiple tabs open (of webpages, embedded document viewer, and file management), it consumes less than 300 MB of RAM.

17. Sleipnir

Platform: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS

Sleipnir is a free web browser that lets you quickly locate the specific tab even when you have over 100 tabs open. It works on the Blink engine and supports Chrome function extensibility (for Windows OS).

Pros

• Sleek design
• Lots of gestures
• Thumbnail tab that shows the contents as it is

Cons

• Some learning curve

It is packed with a web inspector, a tool for reading & making text beautiful, search fields from various sites, and retina display support.

16. Comodo IceDragon

Platform: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS

Comodo IceDragon is an open-source web browser based on Firefox. It is intended to be faster, easy to use, and more secure than Firefox.

Pros

• Scan web pages for malware
• Features several tweaks to enhance both security and performance
• Full compatibility with Firefox plug-ins

Cons

• Sometimes it crashes for no reason

The browser features a page inspector that scans for malware, secure DNS service, and social media integration that allows the instant sharing of any webpage. It is compatible with all Firefox plugins and extensions.

15. Epic

Platform: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

Epic is based on chromium source code, developed by Hidden Reflex. It is dedicated to protecting your privacy by blocking tracking scripts and ads. It includes a built-in protection system against tracking cookies, third-party widgets, and other tracking agents.

Pros

• One-click anonymizing proxy
• Protects users’ privacy at every level
• Built-in encrypted proxy lets users access blocked websites

Cons

• Some websites work strangely or don’t work at all

When closed, Epic automatically deletes all browsing data, including database, history, session, cache, cookies, login data, and preferences. Moreover, it is dubbed as the first browser from India, with free VPN servers in eight countries.

14. Maxthon

Platform: PC, iOS, Android

Maxthon is a powerful engine based on blockchain technology. It encapsulates the blockchain technology through the Vbox and NBdomain interface, allowing developers to power powerful applications.

Pros

• Fast and easy-to-use
• Support NBdomain protocol to access blockchain content
• Compatible with Chrome data
• Cloud Service provides cross-device data sync

Cons

• Lacks supplementary features like voice interaction commands

It has many features that make internet browsing less annoying and more convenient. Maxthon automatically blocks phishing attempts and malicious websites. Also, it supports private browsing session that doesn’t trace your history.

13. Dolphin

Platform: PC, iOS, Android

Dolphin has a  beautiful user interface and is filled with features like Voice search, one-tap sharing, bookmark synchronization, web app store, add-ons, search suggestion, ad-block, video downloader, and flash support.

Pros

• Private browsing and personalized search
• Customize the browser with various backgrounds
• Dozens of add-ons are available

Cons

• Maybe a little slow on startup

You can access the internet by creating a personal gesture for sites and common features. For example, drawing a letter “B” to go to Bing and “D” to go to Duckduckgo.

12. Citrio

Platform: Windows, macOS

Citrio is a fast, lightweight, and free web browser with an intelligent download manager. Citrio is designed with in-build malware and phishing detector, video downloader, proxy, and torrent manager.

Pros

• Built-in proxy widget makes switching between proxies very simple
• Powerful Download Manager and video downloader
• Rich extension library

Cons

• Not updated regularly

It is a safe and secure browser that doesn’t collect any of your personal information. The quick startup time, responsive add-ons, and rich extension libraries deliver a smooth and comfortable web surfing experience.

11. Midori

Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android

Midori is a lightweight, fast, and free web browser based on the Webkit rendering engine. It has a beautiful interface and supports all the latest technologies like CSS3, HTML5, etc.

Pros

• Lightweight and fast
• Guarantees your privacy and anonymity on the network
• Useful plugins are built-in

Cons

• Does not offer universal cookie blocking for all sites

It features script disabling, 3rd party cookie blocking, automatic history clearing after a certain time, ad blocker, smart cookie manager, RSS, and spelling checker.

10. Torch

Platform: Windows, macOS

Torch is a media web browser based on the Chromium source code. It allows you to share webpages, download documents, audio & video files within a single click, directly from the browser.

Pros

• Touch bar support for Mac users
• Lightweight and fast
• VPN onboard
• Compatible with Chrome extensions

Cons

• Unwanted extras
• Owned by a Chinese consortium

It also includes a download accelerator for super-fast download and facelift through which you can design your Facebook profile by selecting various inbuilt themes. And to entertain you, it has mini-clip games (no download required), HD video, and an audio player.

9. Waterfox

Platform: Windows, macOS, Linux

Waterfox is a high-performance web browser based on the Mozilla platform. It is built with Intel’s C++ compiler, which enables you to browse seamlessly. It supports a wide range of plugins, including Adobe flash player, Microsoft Silverlight, and Oracle Java.

Pros

• Offers excellent privacy
• Customize the browser with an array of backgrounds
• Works with major streaming services

Cons

• Maybe a little slow on startup

Overall, the browser delivers a balance of usability and privacy for power users such as server admins and developers.

8. Yandex

Platform: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux

Yandex is a freeware web browser that uses the Blink layout engine and based on Chromium source code. It checks all web pages and downloads files with Yandex security system and Kaspersky anti-virus, respectively. It is built with a minimalist design that allows you to focus on more important things.

Pros

• In-built antivirus and security system
• Hide unrelated interface elements
• Surf web in private

Cons

• No proper dark mode

Yandex is also packed with a bunch of useful features, including language translator, document viewer, Smartbox search, device synchronization, keyboard layout switcher, and more.

7. Tor Browser

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android

Tor Browser prevents the trackers from learning your physical location, page views, and other private information. It isolates each URL you visit so third-party trackers can’t follow you. All your browsing history and cookies automatically clear when you are done browsing.

Pros

• Block trackers
• Multi-layer encryption
• Simple interface for complex security tools

Cons

• Takes time to start and load homepage

The browser is packed with a TorButton, NoScript, TorLauncher, HTTPS everywhere, Firefox extension, and the Tor proxy. It also helps you access websites which are blocked.

6. SalamWeb

Platform: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

SalamWeb, a Chromium-based browser, is specially built for the Muslim audience. It helps them practice Islam through easy access to useful features. For example, users can receive notifications of prayer times based on their location and note of the time remaining before their next prayer.

Users can find mosques near them, access information about mosques, and get directions. The browser will also tell you which direction to face when performing your prayer, even if there is no Internet connection.

Pros

• Ethical software to enhance security and protect privacy
• Useful widgets to help Muslims practice Islam
• Provides accurate weather forecast

Cons

• Several small bugs need to be fixed

SalamWeb is also the main part of the Muslim-specific digital ecosystem, which consists of web applications and SalamToday, an online magazine with international and localized editions.

5. Aloha

Platform: iOS, Android

Aloha is a full-featured web browser that gives you an option to unblock any site using its built-in VPN service, which is completely free can be activated with a single tap. All VPN traffic is encrypted and compressed to use less bandwidth.

It comes with a powerful download manager that allows you to download videos and music right from the browser. There is also a lightweight version of the browser named ‘Aloha Browser Lite.’ It is specifically developed for smartphones with weak specifications.

Pros

• VPN utility
• Built-in media player and QR code reader
• Highly secure and encrypted

Cons

• Overpriced premium subscription

With a premium subscription, which costs $2.99 per month, you get some extra features such as VPN country selection, the ability to use VPN in other apps, and auto start VPN with the browser.

4. Avast Secure Browser

Platform: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android

Based on Chromium, Avast Secure Browser focuses on internet security and privacy. It automatically blocks ads and trackers that increase webpage load time, and stops websites from identifying you based on your unique browser profile.

The browser forces websites to use encryption and protects your device from threats through integrated anti-phishing technology. It also boosts your productivity using an efficient tab clustering system, which enables you to neatly sort dozens of open tabs.

Pros

• Automatically forces sites to use encryption
• Masks your digital identity
• Private video downloader
• Fast VPN protection

Cons

• While it doesn’t log browsing details, it does keep VPN connection logs

All privacy and security tools are ready to go from the moment you download the browser, and they can be easily configured through the settings page. Avast Browser works seamlessly with Chrome-based add-ons, so you can further fine-tune your browsing experience to your liking via the Chrome Web Store.

3. Blisk

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux

Blisk is a developer-oriented browser that offers a great workplace to develop and test modern web applications faster. It is integrated with over 50 test devices. You can place these devices next to each other and compare the UI on desktop and mobile simultaneously.

Pros

• Develop and test for web apps quickly
• Preview devices in real size or smart-scaled size
• Simulate medium or slow Internet connection

Cons

• Not free; it costs $10 per month
• Only meant for development

Like Google Chrome, Blisk features a minimalistic UI. For example, it combines the search bar and address bar into the omnibox. Also, both browsing mode and developer mode can be used concurrently across different tabs.

2. Chromium

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android

Chromium is an open-source browser project that aims to develop a faster, secure, and stable way for all internet users to experience the web. It features a sleek interface that is easy to understand and navigate.

At first glance, you will find it difficult to differentiate between Chrome and Chromium as both browsers look identical on the surface. Each has benefits, so it is not easy to simply pick the best.

Pros

• Open-source
• Minimal UI
• More frequent updates
• Does not track my browsing history

Cons

• No pre-designed support for media codecs
• Updates must be installed manually

For regular users, Google Chrome is probably the better choice because it is relatively stable and doesn’t need to be manually updated. For advanced users and those who place a high value on coding and privacy, Chromium is the way to go.

1. Brave

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android

Brave shields your privacy by blocking data-grabbing ads and trackers. It also blocks and malicious code and malicious websites, like ones that try to use your smartphone/desktop resources to mine cryptocurrencies.

Unlike other browsers that hide your history in the ‘private mode,’ Brave not only hides your history but also masks your location from the websites you visit by routing your browsing through multiple servers before it reaches your destination. Brave encrypts these connections to increase anonymity.

Pros

• Better privacy and less tracking
• Websites load quickly
• Comes with a firewall and VPN
• Settings on a per-site or browser-wide basis

Cons

• Brokes few websites
• Lack of extensions and add-ons

The browser is integrated with InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol designed to make the Web faster. IPFS is crucial for blockchain and for self-described data integrity. It allows users to access previously viewed web pages offline as well as content that has been censored by corporations and nation-states.

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