Brave

Brave is a privacy-focused web browser built on Chromium. It was founded in 2015 by Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy. The browser solves online tracking and intrusive advertising through built-in ad and tracker blocking.

Features

• Brave Shields: Built-in blocking system that removes ads, trackers, fingerprinting scripts, and cross-site cookies by default without requiring extensions.
• Private Windows with Tor: Integrated Tor network routing for anonymous browsing that masks user IP addresses and prevents tracking across sessions.
• Brave Search: Independent search engine with its own 18+ billion page index that processes 1.6 billion monthly queries without profiling users.
• Brave Rewards (BAT): Optional cryptocurrency-based system where users earn Basic Attention Tokens by viewing privacy-preserving ads and can tip content creators.
• Leo AI Assistant: Browser-native AI chatbot that works with PDFs, images, and videos locally without retaining conversations or using data for model training.

Use Cases

• For Privacy-Conscious Users: Blocks 3rd-party trackers and fingerprinting automatically while loading pages 3-6x faster through reduced data consumption.
• For Mobile Users: Saves mobile data, battery life, and CPU resources by eliminating ad loads on Android and iOS devices.
• For Content Creators: Enables direct monetization through BAT token tips from users without relying on traditional advertising networks.
• For Cryptocurrency Users: Provides built-in self-custody wallet supporting Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Zcash transactions without browser extensions.

Brave reached 101 million monthly active users in September 2025 with 1.1% global market share. The browser blocks ads by default while offering optional cryptocurrency rewards for viewing privacy-preserving advertisements.