The Best Web Browsers of 2024 (2024)

Google Chrome is the fastest web browser you can get on a Windows machine. It surpasses the competition in three out of four tests, outranking even Microsoft Edge in all but one test.

On Apple Mac, Chrome is a heavy hitter in performance, outranking Safari in two out of four tests. It’s a good alternative to Safari, but Chrome’s data collection issues are a little disconcerting. If you’re worried about how Google uses your data, Safari or Microsoft Edge may be your better alternative.

Still, despite privacy concerns, Chrome is a great browser overall if you use Google’s services. It’s probably the ideal default browser if you shift between Windows, Android, and Apple devices.

Bottom line: Chrome is the fastest and best web browser on Microsoft Windows and an excellent alternative to Safari on a Mac in terms of speed. However, you agree to Google’s excessive data collection in exchange for speed and convenience.

Pros:

• Supports a huge extensions library
• Syncs across devices

Cons:

• Collects lots of data
• Uses lots of memory

Mozilla’s Firefox browser isn’t known for speed. It falls into last place in most of our tests for Windows and Mac, and that’s okay. Firefox is more about security features than speed, which is ideal if you’re more concerned about blocking malware than loading pages in a flash.

Firefox received a facelift in 2021. Mozilla redesigned the tabs, prompts, menus, and overall look, giving Firefox a new modern interface. Under the hood, Firefox strives to keep you safe online with tools like DNS-over-HTTPS, which encrypts browser requests versus sending the information in plaintext.

Bottom line: If you want the best internet browser that puts security first, not data collection, then Firefox is your best bet. However, it’s not the fastest browser available.

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Pros:

• Protects against spyware
• Blocks almost all pop-ups

Cons:

• Consumes high memory
• Falls behind other browsers in speed

Vivaldi breathes new life into the tired, repetitive web browser design. Here you can customize the start page, create and use a custom theme, customize and move the menu, customize the toolbar, and so on. You can also assign browser commands to keyboard shortcuts, map commands to gestures, and assign quick commands to the Function keys.

In terms of speed, the Vivaldi browser isn’t the fastest on the planet—at least, not yet. It’s the youngest in the batch, so there’s room for improvement. It ranks fourth in all four tests we run on Windows, while its performance jumps between third and last in the same tests on Mac.

That said, Vivaldi is an excellent middle-ground browser in terms of performance.

Bottom line: Vivaldi is great for customizing your browsing experience, but it doesn’t match the speed of Chrome or Safari.

Pros:

• Offers plenty of customization
• Syncs data across devices

Cons:

• Lacks iPhone, iPad versions
• Consumes high memory

The Opera browser is great if you want built-in social network tools. The sidebar includes shortcuts to Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram, and three others you can pin to the browser window.

Opera also supports two VPN services: Free VPN and VPN Pro. The “pro” version costs $7.99 per month and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. We show the differences between the two services in our FAQ.

As for performance, Opera holds its place as the third-fastest browser in our tests for Windows, falling behind Chrome and Microsoft Edge. It has a similar performance level on our MacBook, falling behind Safari, Chrome, and Microsoft Edge in our four tests. Opera has a “battery saver” mode that reduces background activity and pauses animations, but we verified it was disabled before running our tests.

Bottom line: Opera is a good web browser if you want a built-in VPN client and social tools. It provides middle-ground performance in terms of speed.

Pros:

• Includes a built-in VPN client
• Includes built-in social tools

Cons:

• Loads some websites incorrectly
• Updates less frequently than Chrome

Safari is an excellent example of how Apple optimizes its software for Macs. It’s fast, simply designed, and somewhat customizable. It supports Chrome extensions, tab previews for power users, and easy translations using the menu bar. And while we will always recommend Firefox as the best browser for security, Safari’s privacy report panel lists every website that tracks you across the internet.

The drawback with Safari is that you can’t get it on anything but Apple devices. That means we could measure its performance only on our MacBook, so there are no numbers for Windows-based PCs. That said, Safari and Chrome duke it out for the fastest browser, both taking the top spots in two out of four tests. If you want speed, either browser will do.

Bottom line: Safari is the best browser for Macs, hands down. Stick with Safari if you also have an iPhone or iPad. However, if you use other platforms like Windows and Android, Chrome is the better multiplatform solution—if you can ignore Chrome’s data collection woes.

Pros:

• Runs superfast on Macs
• Uses low memory

Cons:

• Isn’t available outside Apple’s ecosystem
• Has a limited extensions library

The original Edge browser was a clunky mess despite Microsoft’s good intentions. It used the company’s in-house EdgeHTML engine and really couldn’t compete with Chrome. Microsoft scrapped its proprietary engine in early 2020 and chose Chromium instead, the browser foundation used in Chrome, Opera, Vivaldi, Brave, and more.

Now Microsoft Edge is highly competitive in terms of speed. On Windows, it gives Chrome a run for its money, falling just a hair behind Google’s browser in three of four of our tests. On our MacBook, Chrome and Microsoft Edge are nearly identical in performance, both falling behind Safari.

Bottom line: Microsoft Edge is a great native browser for Microsoft Windows and a good alternative to Safari on a Mac if you need a browser that runs outside Apple’s ecosystem.

Pros:

• Synchronizes across devices
• Includes a PDF viewer

Cons:

• Lacks a version for Linux
• Collects your browser history

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