Top 5 alternatives to Chrome

Tom Merritt offers five great options if you’re ready to dump Google Chrome for good.

Google’s Chrome is the dominant browser on Earth, which means it works with pretty much everything. It also means every malicious attacker goes after Chrome first. Google does a good job securing it, but is there something else out there that might suit you better?

Here are five browsers to use instead of Chrome.

1. Firefox. The granddaddy of them all at this point, descended from Netscape, which was descended from Mosaic. While it may not have a dominant market share, it has a vibrant developer community and works hard to make it easy to keep your browsing private and secure.

2. Microsoft Edge. Want the compatibility of Chrome with maximum integration into Windows and Microsoft 365? The new Microsoft Edge is built on the Chromium engine so it’s as compatible as Chrome itself, but with that Microsoft spin.

3. Opera. Want the compatibility of Chrome but want nothing to do with Microsoft? Opera’s also built on the Chromium engine and touts its expertise at private browsing and ad blocking. It’s the choice for the cross-platform user availability on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and even Chromebook.

4. The Brave browser. Want the compatibility of Chrome but want nothing to do with Microsoft or Opera’s Beijing-based owners? There’s U.S.-based Brave, which makes privacy and security it’s main selling point with ad-blocking and private browsing—even Tor—all on by default out of the box. It also supports decentralized tech like the IPFS, blockchain domain names and more.

5. Vivaldi. Want the compatibility of Chrome but want nothing to do with Microsoft or either China or US-based owners? Vivaldi is run by the original co-founders of Opera and is based in Oslo, Norway. It supports the usual ad blocking and privacy features but tries to distinguish itself with a simple and usable design.

I know. Most of these are running on the Chromium engine, but hey… that means compatibility AND choice.

If you’re wondering why you’d need to dump Chrome at all, read Jack Wallen’s TechRepublic article “It’s time to dump Chrome as your default browser on Android.”

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