Post #75770

2025-12-18 01:04 UTC

Librewolf, Waterfox or something else? Hi folks - with all the news about Firefox again recently, I want to make sure I am using the right web browser on my linux desktop for my purposes. I’ve got both Waterfox and Librewolf installed right now. I believe they’re both forks of Mozilla’s Firefox. And I think I understand that Librewolf takes privacy the most seriously, with everything it can locked down or disabled, whereas Waterfox is more locked down than Firefox but not to the same extreme as Librewolf. Do I have that right? If so, are there any better browsers for a linux desktop user, not necessarily based on FF? What are your favorites? My criteria for a desktop browser are: well maintained (it doesn’t have to get updates all the time, but routinely is good enough) privacy focused (more than FF or certainly more than anything based on Chrome) uses an engine other than Chromium FOSS Thanks for any ideas!

Replies (14)

@DFX4509B__dup_13501@lemmy.wtf 2025-12-18 01:19

Both Waterfox and LibreWolf are clearly anti-AI, so either will work. LibreWolf is more hardened by default though while Waterfox will require some more manual work to harden to the degree of LibreWolf. IceCat is also a third option that’s similarly hardened to LibreWolf, but it comes with extra extensions whose usefulness varies from person to person. (posted to the thread I actually wanted to post it to this time)

Open ##75813
@DeltaWingDragon@sh.itjust.works 2025-12-18 01:58

If you don’t care about extensions, try some of those “DE default” browsers that never seem to be actual defaults. The ones like GNOME Web, Falkon, Konqueror, Midori (it was the default on one XFCE system once).

Open ##75887
@Darkcoffee@sh.itjust.works 2025-12-18 02:02

chaos.social/@librewolf/115716906957137196 Librewolf will remain AI free. I think I’ll take that one. For mobile, we’ll see… I guess maybe Fennec if they keep AI off of it.

Open ##75893
@cecilkorik@piefed.ca 2025-12-18 02:23

I’ve used both and while Waterfox is pretty good, Librewolf is superior. It’s more aggressive in its privacy settings by default, you can either tone that down or learn to work with it (I recommend the latter, which takes some effort and is a different way of doing things, treating privacy as something you have to actively opt-out of on a case by case basis, which will benefit you in the long run). Unlike Waterfox, Librewolf has also never had a problem where it “accidentally” sold itself to an advertising company and then changed its mind, but even despite Waterfox’s strange and concerning escapades with System1, I still think Librewolf is simply better on its own merits, nevermind its moral purity.

Open ##75956
@nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 2025-12-18 02:28

+1 LibreWolf enjoyer here

Open ##75970
@DaMummy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2025-12-18 02:30

How come I don’t see IronFox mentioned lately? Was there some news I missed?

Open ##75979
@Fit_Series_573@lemmy.world 2025-12-18 02:41

Check out Orion. Still in beta for Linux but still pretty good so far from my experience so far. Flawless for anyone on any ios devices or Mac since its build with webkit like Safari.

Open ##76017
@Maeve@kbin.earth 2025-12-18 02:59

I've been extremely pleased with librewolf, and never disable ootb settings.

Open ##76093
@lemmie689@lemmy.sdf.org 2025-12-18 03:25

Ive used Mullvad browser on my laptop for a while now for general purposes, It comes with ublock and noscript. I use Librewolf secondarily, and Firefox with noscript blocking everything for sites I want to limit anything but the main site. mullvad.net/en/browser

Open ##76141
@faizalr@piefed.social 2025-12-18 03:58

I haven’t tried it yet, but #Vivaldi is another alternative.

Open ##76210
@klu9@piefed.social 2025-12-18 04:35

I used Floorp and Firedragon (formerly based on Librewolf, now on Floorp), don’t know if they are cutting out the AI cruft. They have other privacy features, mainly their choice of default settings. I’m currently using Zen, which made a statement: We noticed a rising interest regarding the use of AI in browsers. To be clear about our position on this: Zen currently is disabling all AI features included in Firefox and will continue to do so. https://ohai.social/@zenbrowser@floss.social/115731119727477276

Open ##76285
@Cybersteel@lemmy.world 2025-12-18 05:10

I use qutebrowser but I usually just access the net through the terminal.

Open ##76371
@pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 2025-12-18 05:11

LibreWolf is nice.

Open ##76375
@matdave@lemmy.ml 2025-12-18 05:40

If you don’t mind no plugins, I really like Epiphany. I can live without most plugins bit not having my works password manager built in makes it unusable for anything but personal browsing.

Open ##76428