12 Best Google Chrome Alternatives In 2022

The Google Chrome web browser was publicly released in 2008. Originally only available for Microsoft Windows, support for macOS, Linux, and mobile platforms quickly followed. By mid-2012, Chrome was the most popular browser worldwide. It has been the dominant player in the category ever since.

Chrome has a global browser market share of 63.58% across all device types and Possibly the best browser available but the smooth experience comes with the cost of personal data and more RAM usage.

The biggest problem with Chrome is that it is too resource-heavy and serious problems like heavy RAM usage that makes your device sluggish. Secondly, and what concerns me the most is the privacy issues that come with using Google Chrome. Google is a giant in the data collection industry, and as Chrome users, we are signing over our entire web data to Google.

The time has come for you to break up with Google Chrome. A new generation of browsers now offers a snappier, no-compromise browsing experience, and at the same time, frees you from Google’s resource-hungry and monopolistic practices.

Here is a list of the Best Google Chrome alternatives in 2022 for you.

1. Avast Secure Browser

This browser comes from the software security solution firm Avast. It is the best Google Chrome alternative that offers both privacy and speed.

Avast Secure Browser can automatically block/hide online ads to drastically improve website load time. Its advanced built-in security lets you browse, shop, and bank safely on any website. Other benefits include the prevention of user fingerprinting and notification alerts in case of leaked passwords. Apart from security, the browser is feature-packed in terms of usability too.

It is fast, fast, automatically transfers your bookmarks, history, and settings from Chrome.

Key Features:

• Fast and Secure Private Browsing
• Stay Secure with Free Built-In VPN
• Browse Faster With AdBlock
• Guard Your Sensitive Data
• Unblock the Internet
• PIN Lock and Fingerprint Unlock
• Video downloader
• Dark Mode available
• Platform Supports: Web, Android, iPhone/iPad

2. Brave

Most privacy-focused Chromium-based browsers are basically Chrome clones with better default settings, slower security updates, and sometimes a few extensions that create more problems than they solve. If you want a browser that works like Chrome (including compatibility with its extensions) and protects your privacy without making you change several settings, then Brave is your best bet.

As an open-source browser, you can be pretty sure that if it ever starts collecting browsing data, someone will find that out very quickly. Other browsers send websites partial information regarding your hardware configuration and software settings, making it hard for sites to track you based on a rare combination of common factors.

That isn’t always enough, especially when visiting unpopular websites or using hardware that isn’t common anymore. By default, Brave randomizes the information it sends to websites, making you appear like a different person on every site, and every time you restart the browser. Brave has the HTTPS Everywhere extension built-in, upgrading many outdated HTTP requests to the newer, secure protocol.

By default it also blocks all ads and trackers, often greatly improving page load times, but sometimes preventing pages from loading properly. These settings can be changed for a specific site through the Brave icon in the address field, or for all sites in Settings > Shields.

For extra tracking protection, you can disable Google login buttons and embedded Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn posts in Settings > Social media blocking. In addition to “normal” private windows, which only avoid saving your history and cookies, Brave has the option of private windows with Tor functionality, which hides your IP address from the sites you visit by routing your requests through several random nodes in the volunteer-based Tor network.

The obvious drawback of that method is speed, so if you want to watch video anonymously, you may prefer to use a paid VPN service. The most controversial thing about Brave is its business model: while it blocks ads on websites by default (shameless plug: hurting publishers like TechSpot who don’t use intrusive ads or pop-ups), it sells its own ads to be viewed as OS notifications by users who chose to view ads.

The ads are targeted based on the user’s browsing history, but the calculation happens on the user’s device, without Brave seeing that history. Brave takes 30% of the money, and distributes the rest between the users who viewed the ad as “Basic Attention Tokens,” based on Ethereum.

Users can donate the money back to registered websites and content creators of their choice, or trade it for other cryptocurrency. Viewing ads is completely optional, and the Brave Rewards button can be removed from the address field in Settings > Appearance.

Key Features:

• Load pages 3x to 6x faster
• It’s easy to import your settings from your old browser. You can do it during the welcome tour or later through the menus.
• Support your favorite sites with Brave Rewards
• Brave fights malware and prevents tracking, keeping your information safe and secure.
• Choose your settings on a per-site or browser-wide basis.
• Browse confidently with default settings that block phishing, malware, and malvertising.
• Sync your devices
• Ad blocking
• Many more…

3. Epic

Epic Privacy Browser is yet another Google Chrome alternative that focuses on the privacy of its users.

The web browser includes built-in protection against thousands of tracking scripts, tracking cookies and other tracking agents, ad networks, cryptocurrency mining scripts, dangerous malvertising, and third-party widgets.

As per their website, on an average, the browser is blocking more than 600 trackers in a single browsing session.

That number alone should make you fear a browser like Chrome which doesn’t come with any ad track blocking features.

One of the biggest features of Epic is its one-click encryption tool which when activated hides your IP address and encrypts your browsing. The best part is that even DNS requests are routed through the encrypted proxy.

This protects your browsing history from your ISP, your employer, your government, data collectors, and other network snoops.

If you want to save yourself from all those pesky trackers which track you across websites and collect data on you, Epic Privacy Browser is just the right thing for you.

While Epic Browser is not open source software as such (although it uses open-source Chromium), the company says on their Web site that “All of Epic’s code is visible and auditable by anyone.

4. Apple Safari

If you use Apple devices exclusively, Safari is already your default browser and according to the company, it’s “the world’s fastest browser,” more than 50% faster when loading frequently-visited websites than Google Chrome.

Also, because it’s specifically designed for Apple devices, it was created to be kind to your battery life.

Google Chrome is significantly quicker but it’s fast enough that your browser won’t feel sluggish.

It’s integrated into iOS, iPadOS, and MacOS, and you’ll likely get better battery life thanks to Apple’s in-house optimizations and the underlying hardware.

Safari also focuses a great deal on privacy and security.

If you want to minimize how you’re tracked and whether Big Brother is looking over your shoulder, then Safari is a good choice.

If you also use an iPhone and/or an iPad, then using Safari on your Mac will make for the most seamless transition between platforms. Open websites on an iPad or iPhone, and they are carried over to MacOS.

Safari is not offered outside the Apple ecosystem.

Key Features:

• Customizable Start Page
• Improved Tab Design
• Safari has better support for the Web Extensions API. this means more 3rd-party extensions written for other browsers such as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox should be easily portable to work with Safari too.
• More Privacy
• Supports HTTP/3
• Many more…

Pros:

• Already built-in on most Apple devices
• Apple Pay and calling/messaging integration
• iCloud Keychain updates and syncs passwords

Cons:

• Can only be used safely on Apple devices
• Limited extensions when compared to Chrome

5. Microsoft Edge

Windows default browser has gotten much better with the latest version of Microsoft Edge.

The company has released a brand new Edge browser with a Chromium engine and chrome extension support, making it much more useful than ever.

The modern Edge browser is feature riched and much faster than Chrome and is an excellent replacement for Google Chrome. The old Edge browser had its extensions and some unique features, but it is no longer supported.

Windows users will get the Chromium-based Edge browser update as a replacement for the old Edge browser.

If you’re tired of Google Chrome or want to try something new and faster, Microsoft Edge is a must-try for you.

Key Features:

• Automatically fill in your shipping details and apply coupons to make online shopping fast and simple. (Feature available in US only).
• Microsoft Edge gives you the tools to protect your privacy and security online. Explore password health, tracking prevention and more.
• Warns you of any online breaches and can generate and store strong passwords.
• A browsing mode for kids with built-in protection and custom designs so your kids can surf a web tailored just for them.
• Add more functionality to your browsing experience by downloading your favorite extensions from the Microsoft Edge Addons store to personalize your experience.
• Sync your passwords, favorites, and settings across multiple devices.
• because Edge is built on the same Chromium code as Google’s browser, you can install any Chrome-compatible add-on in Edge too.

6. Ungoogled Chromium

For the privacy fans out there, this browser will be a godsend.

While it may look identical to Chrome, it has many privacy tweaks under-the-hood. As the name suggests, the biggest setback for Chrome users will be the absence of Google’s service integrations. This also means no more internal requests to Google, Google URL tracking, and much more.

It does not boast anything extraordinary to protect your privacy, but it should be better than Google Chrome. You can choose to explore and toggle privacy settings at will through the Chrome flags settings as well.

All-in-all, UnGoogled Chromium provides a familiar browsing experience, with a suite of privacy features added in as well.

It is reliable and is also compatible with the large ecosystem of Chrome extensions.

Key Features:

• Stripping Google binaries from the source code.
• Forces all pop-ups into tabs.
• Blocking of internal requests to Google at runtime.
• Removal of functionality specific to Google domains.
• Many new command-line switches and chrome://flags entries.

7. Maxthon Cloud Browser

The next Chrome alternative on our list takes a different approach than most of the browsers in 2022.

While other browsers strip down their features to provide a speedy and minimalistic experience, Maxthon does the opposite by adding as many helpful features as possible. Some of these extra and useful features are media downloader, screen-capture tool, Reader mode, etc.

Apart from these, you get the usual features to synchronize bookmarks, tabs, options, the address bar, new-tab links, notes sync, and password sync.

However, Maxthon lags behind Chrome and Firefox in important aspects of UI and performance.

Also, if privacy is a bigger concern for you than features, I would suggest that you skip this browser.

Key Features:

• Quickly and easily navigate WebPages Browse the web as you like.
• The next wave of ad and popup blocking.
• Experience Dual Display Engine, Dual Display Engine makes your surfing much swifter and offers you a better compatibility.
• Secure and automatic username and password management.
• Security & Privacy
• Compatible with Chrome data
• Maxthon Cloud Service provides you with cross-device data sync, any time anywhere

8. Vivaldi

If you are a power user who finds Chrome too limiting and privacy isn’t your top priority, Vivaldi may be the best browser for you. If you don’t like something about this browser, chances are you can customize it. You can set the main menu to be a drop-down vertical menu or a horizontal bar. You can add actions, move items and categories around, and even remove them entirely (we’re looking at you, “exit”).

You can create or change keyboard shortcuts or mouse gestures for any action, and even for chains of actions. You can show your tabs at the top or bottom of the window, or on either side. You can stack tabs within tabs in one of 3 ways: with drop-down menus, with 2 tab bars, or by showing all tabs only in the active stack.

You can add a side panel on either side of the screen, with browser menus and apps (notes, mail, RSS and calendar) and the option to add any website with no need for iffy third-party extensions like in Opera. Even the browser’s themes are more customizable than most others, including levels of transparency and corner-rounding. The browser is compatible with the RGB effects of both Razer Chroma and Philips Hue.

When using a slow internet connection, you can disable a website’s images entirely, or only show the ones already cached on your computer, through the bottom status bar. You can also choose to play looped animations only once, or not at all.

In Settings > Webpages you can do those things globally.

In the address field, you can block trackers or ads for each site. In Settings > Privacy, you can do it for all sites. When visiting a page whose language is different from that of the browser, you’ll see the option to translate it in the other side of the address field. What makes Vivaldi a good browser for gamers or multi-taskers is the pause button in the status bar. With a single click you can pause all media and site activity, saving system resources. Then, with another click, you can get back to where you left off.

Like Opera and Firefox, Vivaldi includes a picture-in-picture button for videos by default. You can also use the page tiling button in the status bar to view sites at the same time within the same window. The status bar lets you capture a full page or any part of it, and save it as either PNG or JPEG (useful, as the two are quite different). Vivaldi is also compatible with Chrome’s extensions, if you really need them.

In terms of privacy, Vivaldi may be better than Chrome and Opera, but isn’t as good as Firefox, as it tracks you based on a user ID stored on your computer.

That tracking is allegedly not used for advertising but for knowing how popular Vivaldi is around the world, but it’s still some kind of tracking.

Key Featues:

• Vivadi’s Quick Commands lets you search for nearly everything from bookmarks and browsing history to configuration settings and open tabs from the same place.
• Speed Dial is similar to a feature found in Opera but in Vivaldi, it is spruced up to help you access your favorite sites via visual bookmarks. You can create and name speed dial folders or groups based on site categories or your interests.
• Vivaldi introduces the ‘Fast Forward’ and “Rewind” buttons for speedier navigation between pages. While ‘Back’ and ‘Forward’ takes you one page at a time, “Rewind” and “Fast Forward” lets you navigate in great strides.
• Notes, in Vivaldi, lets you make notes to save your ideas or thoughts. These notes can contain text content, screenshots of webpages, attached files and even link to a specific website.
• Web Panels in Vivaldi allows users to dock a web page in a panel on either sides of the main window. It works much like the main browser window and in this space, you can follow a developing news story, check your social media and chat with people.
• Vivaldi allows users to save a string of opened tabs as a Session, which can be named an opened in the future. To save a session, you need to go to the File > Save Open Tabs as Session.
• Vivaldi’s Visual Tabs gives you a glance of the open tabs when you hover over the tab. A small windowed preview will appear and show you a sneak peek of each tab’s content.
• Tab Tiling in Vivaldi lets you view two or more pages simultaneously. You can conveniently display selected stacked tabs or single tabs side-by-side or in a grid layout.

9. Torch Browser

If you are someone who downloads a ton of media from the internet and is always looking out for software which can help you do that, how about you try a browser which can help you download everything you want without the need of a third-party software?

Well, that’s what Torch Browser does and it is pretty good at it.

The browser comes with a built-in media grabber which gives you a download button next to videos hosted on any website allowing you to easily download media for offline consumption.

One of the best thing about the Torch browser is that it comes with a built-in media player which allows you to play the videos which have not been fully downloaded.

Torch Browser also brings built-in support for torrents allowing users to download torrent files without needing third-party software.

The browser also comes with a music extension allowing users to listen to their favorite music without paying anything.

Finally, there’s a game extension which allows users to play browser powered games for free. Torch Browser is the best browser for entertainment and a worthy alternative to Google Chrome for media lovers out there.

Key Features:

• Download streaming videos and audio in one-click
• Download torrents directly from your browser
• A stunning player built into Torch Browser
• A free music player right in your browser
• Click on the Torch Games button and you will find hundreds of games to play.
• Share sites, videos, audio and search results with your friends on Facebook and your followers on Twitter.
• Many more…

10. Mozilla Firefox

Mozilla Firefox comes equipped with a refreshingly clean look and a versatile set of privacy protections.

But the one feature that stands out for me is something Mozilla calls “Container Tabs.” Container Tabs lets you log into multiple profiles of the same website in a single window. You can take advantage of this to separate your work and personal accounts.

Firefox lets you save these sessions individually so that you can instantly launch your usual set of, say, work profiles. What I found even more handy is that anything you do in a container tab stays in there. This means whenever you open a new container tab, it tricks the website into thinking you’re surfing from a new browser.

Therefore, you won’t be followed by a laundry list of trackers that know your past browsing history. Also, any new data such as cookies you produce in a container tab will remain isolated from the rest of the browser.

I generally use this to book flights and other travel items since the websites won’t know I’ve been researching for a trip before and won’t exploit that information to shoot up prices.

Mozilla offers a lot of great features out of the box, as well as a solid library of add-ons and extensive customization options.

Plus, it comes with strong privacy protection and, because Mozilla is a nonprofit organization, it has little incentive to collect and sell your data.

Unlike Google Chrome, Firefox comes with a lot of customization options for the interface.

Every element of the basic UI can be moved around, and several buttons can be added anywhere you like with a simple drag-and-drop process.

Setting up and syncing your browser across devices is quick and easy.

As long as you create a Firefox account, your bookmarks, preferences, search history, logins, add-ons and even open tabs will be synced between your devices.

Another fantastic feature is the screen capture tool.

Located in the three-dots menu next to the address bar, it allows you to take a screengrab of an entire webpage without scrolling.

When it comes to system resources, Firefox has a high initial footprint, using large amounts of RAM when you only have a few tabs open.

That said, the more tabs you have open the more efficient it is compared to its competitors, using significantly less RAM than Chrome once you have a lot of tabs open simultaneously.

Pros:

• Fast
• UI customization
• Strong privacy

Cons:

• Occasional compatibility issues
• High RAM use at low load

11. Tor Browser

Tor is free, open-source software that helps you stay anonymous online.

At first glance, it operates just like a normal web browser. But beneath the surface, there’s a lot more going on.

Tor randomly directs all your traffic through a network of servers around the world, wrapping it in several layers of encryption to keep it safe from prying eyes. You can think of this encryption like the layers of an onion. in fact, Tor actually stands for “The Onion Router”.

Its network can be accessed through Tor Browser, which allows you to keep your activity, identity, and location hidden as you browse the web with some caveats. Tor Browser uses several complex steps to protect your data. First, the data is wrapped in layers of encryption.

Then it’s routed through a random relay and encrypted again, and the process is repeated across a decentralized network of nodes. Each time your data passes through one of the network’s nodes, a layer of encryption is removed to reveal the location of the next relay. When you reach the final relay, or exit node, the last layer of encryption is removed and your data is sent to its ultimate destination.

Each relay only decrypts enough data to reveal the location of the previous and following relays, every path is randomly generated, and none of the relays are recorded. Tor also deletes your browsing history and cookies for you after each session. This makes it nearly impossible for your activity to be traced back to you.

Key Features:

• Cross-Platform application. Tor is available for Linux, Microsoft Windows and Mac.
• Available for architectures x86 and x86_64.
• Automatic data decryption at client side.
• It is a combination of Firefox Browser + Tor Project.
• Complex Data encryption before it sent over the Internet.
• Easy to set FTP with Tor using configuration as “socks4a” proxy on “localhost” port “9050”
• Performs task without revealing the IP of Source.
• Capable of routing data to/from hidden services and applications behind the firewall.
• It makes it possible to visit locked websites.
• Portable – Run a pre-configured web browser directly from the USB storage device. No need to install it locally.
• Tor is capable of handling thousands of relay and millions of users.
• It provides anonymity to servers and websites.

12. Opera

While it has never been the king of web browsers, Opera has always been present in the debate over which browser to use. When people use Opera they get all the essential browser features. On top of that, Opera’s unique and helpful functions make it stand out in comparison to Chrome or Firefox.

Opera has a long history of creating innovative in the Web browsers. In fact, several things we take for granted in our Web experience originated in the Norwegian-built browser, including a tabbed interface, popup blockers, and integrated search.

After loading up on and subsequently stripping itself of unique features, Opera has returned to innovating and differentiating itself, with built-in ad-blocking, pop-out video, a battery saver, a turbo compression scheme, and now even a free built-in virtual private network (or VPN) that’s as fast as many premium services.

Opera is one of the only browsers with an onboard VPN, allowing you to mask your device’s IP address, and you can toggle the VPN on and off as you please.

Key Features:

• Opera has been operating on Google’s open-source Chromium since 2013, that means you can install any web extension from Google’s massive library for a completely customized experience.
• Toggle the integrated ad blocker on and off.
• Send encrypted content and links (articles, images, and videos) between devices using Opera Flow.
• Take a full or partial screenshot of the active page. Functionality is limited, though, so if you need to take or edit screenshots in a more advanced way, you’ll need an extension.
• Search with Google and use the auto-fill prediction function, or choose from alternative leading search engines.
• Switching browsers to Opera from Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is fast and easy. You can automatically import all your browser data, as well as add Chrome extensions, and start using Opera’s unique features right away.
• Opera is available for MacOS, Linux, and Windows devices. It works on desktop versions of MacOS X 10.11 and later, Ubuntu 16.04 and later, and Windows 7 and later.
• Organize tab groups in separate customizable workspaces.
• Chat with friends right in your browser without switching apps.
• A customizable and convenient newsfeed on your start page.
• Pop out online videos so they float on top of webpages as you browse.
• Synchronize the Opera browsers on any of your devices.
• An easy way to noticeably extend your laptop’s battery life.
• A world of music and podcasts at your fingertips.

Pros:

• Built-in ad blocker, VPN, and battery saver.
• Turbo mode speeds up slow connections, reduces data usage.
• Helpful Speed Dial start page.
• Gestures for easy navigation.
• Send encrypted content
• Fast performance.
• Social and messaging app integration

Cons:

• Some sites balk at an unrecognized browser.
• Lacks social sharing tool.
• No reading mode or reading list.
• Security and privacy concerns

Conclusion

That’s pretty much it! So, there are Best Google Chrome Alternatives.

If you have any other favorite Best Google Chrome Alternatives then don’t forget to share them with us in the comment below. Also, if you liked this article, Share on your favorite Social media platform.

Source:

• https://fossbytes.com/best-google-chrome-alternatives-most-private-web-browsers/
• https://www.techspot.com/article/2319-google-chrome-alternatives-better-features/
• https://beebom.com/best-google-chrome-alternatives/
• https://www.laptopmag.com/features/5-chrome-alternatives
• https://techengage.com/best-google-chrome-alternatives/
• https://news.itsfoss.com/chrome-like-browsers-2021/