Brave Browser more than doubles users in a year
Brave browser, a Chromium-based web browser with an interesting feature set and business model, that was launched back in 2016 has been doing very well in the past twelve months. According to statistics provided by Brave itself, monthly active users have more than doubled from 8.7 million 12 months ago to 20.5 million today.
As far as daily active users are concerned, that figure did increase from 3 million last year to 7 million daily active users as of today. Both numbers increased by 2.3 times in the span of a year.
Tip: check out our guide on making Brave faster.
Brave launched version 1.0 of the web browser a year ago and that launch seems to have fueled the user growth of the browser. The Android version of the browser is one of the top rated web browsers on Google Play -- Brave states that it is the best rated browser, but the sheer size of available mobile browsers makes it difficult to verify.
A quick comparison with the major browsers Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and Vivaldi confirms that Brave for Android has the best rating of all the browsers mentioned.
- Brave -- 4.7
- Microsoft Edge -- 4.5
- Opera -- 4.5
- Google Chrome -- 4.2
- Vivaldi -- 4.1
- Firefox -- 3.9
Brave browser ships with a native ad-blocker and promise that the company that is behind the browser does not turn its users into a product. The browser uses the cryptocurrency Basic Attention Token to earn revenue; this is done by allowing users to opt-in to advertisement and to receive BAT currency in return for doing so. Publishers, website operators, receive their share of the ad revenue as well, and so does the Brave company.
Financials have improved significantly in this regard in the past twelve months as well. Verified creators rose from 300,000 last year to 972,000 today. Brave displayed more than 2 billion ads to this day with an average click-through rate of 9% according to the company.
Closing Words
Brave browser has more than doubled its daily and monthly active users, and that impacted other metrics such as BAT currency that has been generated and paid out.
Now You: have you tried Brave browser? What is your take on the browser?
I have never tried it,it w’ll be my first time and i hope this app is best………
@Msaka Express
Check out my Brave settings here, I browse very comfortably that way:
https://www.ghacks.net/2020/11/17/brave-browser-gets-cname-based-adblocking-support/#comment-4480402
In case you use Android: Not all of it applies to Android, but some of it does. Please be aware that Brave on Android doesn’t support Chrome extensions.
Until I buy more RAM it’s only Firefox for now. All the Chromium based browsers that I’ve tried (didn’t try Vivaldi, Opera seems to be a somewhat exception) are memory hog on normal condition and they usually get crazy about RAM when many tabs got opened at once.
Brave’s idea about ads is a try in the right path and currently the only viable solution to many people who want to support their favourite websites while still retaining privacy.
as utopia ecosystem.
I tried Brave but didn’t like it. Its adblocker kinda sucks and it’s baked into the browser so you can disable it but not remove it.
But the real deal-breaker for me was that they block 3rd party push services like PushBullet.
@Mothy
you saved my day! Didn’t know about the ALT+B shortcut :)
HAVE USED BRAVE FOR THE PAST SIX MONTHS AND I AM EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH THIS BROWSER. IT IS FAST, SUPPORTS ALL CHROME EXTENSIONS, BLOCKS ALL ADS AND IS JUST SUPERIOR TO THE OTHER BROWSERS.
PS PLEASE FORGIVE MY UPPER CASE TYPING, I SUFFER FROM AMD-WET (AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION WITH BLEEDING. THERE IS NO CURE.
@PANAMA PATRICK Just hit the Caps Lock key.
Yes, Caps Lock has a secret power.
Wet AMD gives vision issues, I guess that’s why he needs to use CapsLock…
Never tried Brave as like all other Chromium based browsers it lacks a native easy keyboard shortcut for bookmarks. I’ve always been a big keyboard shortcut user as it can really increase ease of use and productivity (instead of having to reach over and use the mouse). So when I used Internet Explorer it was simply Alt+C and now with Firefox Alt+B both of which are easy to hit with just two fingers of one hand. Otherwise other browsers are just not very keyboard shortcut friendly forcing the use of two hands or a contortion of fingers to try to hit the right keys. :(
@Mothy
I have CMD + B (macOS) or CTRL + B (Windows, Linux) but maybe it depends what user want. Can you select the address by some keyboard button in bookmarks sidebar? Tab button (for example) switch only between buttons.
I tried Brave for a couple months before switching back to Firefox. I liked it, but it just didn’t work properly with some sites and I felt like the built-in ad-blocking wasn’t as good as uBlock Origin anyway. Since uBlock Origin is the only extension I care about, Firefox mobile’s limited extension support is a nonissue for me.
I’ve been impressed with Brave these past few months compared to Firefox -which was far too slow in loading.
Brave with startpage.com as the homepage works especially well.
Is StartPage still hostile to Tor, like I remembered it to be last time I used it as my daily driver search engine on Tor Browser?
From what Ive read, StartPage is just Google search without the tracking. So if Google search is hostile to Tor then Startpage will probably be as well.
What I like about Startpage is the lack of Google popups etc.
@Iron Heart
We are waiting for your updated settings regarding Brave and setup
I remember the adblocker blocking some things it shouldn’t and then letting lots of things pass that shouldn’t, so I still had to use another adblocker.. which defeated the whole purpose of a browser with a built-in adblocking solution. Maybe that has changed now, not gonna bother to check since I have been perfectly happy with Chromium for over a year now. Still, great to see that the big boys have some nice competition! Google Chrome gets way too many users, just because they don’t know about other great options, and of course the intrusive desire trying to get installed by any means possible in every damn situation.
I started using Brave on Android when Firefox broke stuff with their version 79 release.
I would prefer to not use Google Chrome.
It’s my primary browser. It’s built in adblocker is very good and on my system it works well with Youtube.
As long as they stay committed to privacy and do not mess with Brave Shields and Social media blocking, it will stay my browser of choice and a worthy successor to Firefox.
In my experience Brave is okay. It could be great if Brave’s devs focused their efforts more on adding user features and addressing known bugs (Top Sites are a mess). Instead they seem to be struggling to both build-out their ad network (that’s what BAT is at the end of the day) and prioritize new features. I get it, they have a small dev team and BAT is probably the only path to financial stability for them. Finally, Eich remains a bit of an acquired taste.
I continue to monitor them and occasionally try out the browser, but I would be lying if I said it is good enough to replace Firefox w/uBlock Origin for me.
Seems to be wonky with Youtube vids. Unless I’m mistaken you can’t manually add your own shortcuts to home/new tab page…it just compiles them itself on a ‘most used’ basis. So I use Homey chrome store extension.
Wait until MS forks Brave into, “Courage!” using The Wizard of Oz’s Cowardly Lion as the photo for it.
No thanks. I’ll stick with Cent Browser.
Brave is basically Chromium with a built in adblock and optional crypto stuff. The built in Adblock is pretty brilliant by itself, enough that I now exclusively use Brave and uninstalled Chrome.
Anyone try Brave on iPhone, can you install ublock?
@popcorn
No browser on iOS has extension support. Brave on iOS has a built-in ad blocker which is pretty good, though not quite at the level of uBO.
@ShintoPlasm
Well, not quite. Safari does support content blockers on iOS, since iOS 9.0 I believe.
Take a look at Wipr, 1Blocker X etc. on iOS.
There is masochism in deliberately opting for a browser that is also an ad platform spyware monetizing browsing behavior thanks to the trackers running with the full privileges of locally installed code, when more user respecting alternatives exist.
But advertisers excel at selling themselves, with reality inverting slogans such as Brave’s “You are not a product. Why use a browser that treats you like one?”.
That sort of things helps too: “To date, more than $12 million in BAT has been distributed via the referral program—simply astonishing!”
That’s a pretty distorted view of how Brave works.
@Iron Heart
Since this is a Brave topic, perhaps here would be a good time to post your long promised Brave settings and setup.
@Anonymous
Here it is:
https://www.ghacks.net/2020/11/17/brave-browser-gets-cname-based-adblocking-support/#comment-4480402
I had a stressful, busy time during the past few weeks. I had little time and somewhat forgot about it. I am sorry, hope it is still helpful for you.
I will start using Brave if they ever add extension support to both their desktop and mobile browsers. Until then, Firefox is still my primary browser, Ungoogled Chromium second.
@Ray
The desktop version of Brave supports all Chrome extensions, the mobile version doesn’t just yet.
Good, diversification is healthy. I hope they continue to do well and continue to work out the rough edges.
I buy something from ebay and it’s delivered by Amazon ‘cuz they works with USPS. Enough’s enough. Amazon and Google are in everything.
We use system level blockers in all our devices. Browsers are FF ESR or FF for Linux distros that don’t offer ESR and one ungoogled chromium install. Phone browsers are Focus. System level blocker on phones, too. Well, as much as a phone can be private, which ain’t much.
Reason i have not used or tried brave.!
No 32bit linux version.
Just upgrade to 64 bit
Why would they cater to such a minority dying audience?
Yes, Iron Heart uses Brave. So what? Brave can be a good browser and has now more users. I like to hear things about Brave, Firefox etc but not about certain person.
There are couple disadvantages with Brave, but overall I use it regularly, together with Chromium. Work flow with JS disabled and uBO is better than with any other browser, so I use it mostly for reading and researching.
The browser still isn’t polished, but the level of annoyances and privacy infringing stuff on the web is so enourmous that I don’t see any other choice than using it.
Iron Heart, the floor is all yours :D
you did it Iron Heart!!
Well, I had a hard time convincing all those 20 million people to try Brave, that I can tell ya. /s
On a more serious note: I think Brave has growth opportunity simply because other browsers are helping them out quite a bit (Google refusing to allow adblocking on Android and crippling it on the desktop, Mozilla destroying FF for Android in terms of UI and extension compatibility). Brave isn’t spyware and doesn’t attempt to be a browser catering to a specific niche (like e.g. Vivaldi caters specifically to power users). It’s a drop in replacement for Chrome / Chromium and is advantageous to use when compared to it, objectively. I think introducing extension support on Android will further fuel its growth.
That being said, while Brave is currently my preferred browser, that might change IF they pull any privacy-hostile shenanigans. I dropped Firefox when Cliqz hit the fan, I would do the same with Brave if it comes down to it. Something like that has yet to happen, however, so I’ll continue running it for the foreseeable future. :D
Haha! 😃
Brave is faster than my other browsers. Ugly, and I haven’t figured out how to change the theme. It struggles with some websites, and video is laggy, but I’ve been using it more and more often.