Proton just put five popular privacy browsers through a head-to-head test in a new YouTube video to see which one actually protects your data without ruining your daily browsing, and Brave walked away with the crown.

Instead of just reading off spec sheets, the company scored Brave, Firefox, LibreWolf, Vivaldi, and Zen across three rounds covering their ties to Google, tracker blocking, and everyday usability.

Running on Google’s Chromium engine immediately hurt Brave and Vivaldi in round one, where both only managed four out of 10. Firefox, with its independent Gecko engine, bagged 7 points. However, Mozilla’s reliance on Google search revenue kept it behind telemetry-free forks LibreWolf and Zen, which tied at nine each.

proton-firefox-google-search-deal-video

Things flipped in round two when Proton tested for browser fingerprinting, which is how websites quietly identify your computer using your screen size and hardware. Vivaldi flopped with two points, while Firefox and Zen only got five each since neither stopped sites from building a unique ID profile.

LibreWolf did much better with eight points, lining up with recent browser privacy test results where hardened Firefox forks also dominated.

Still, Brave took a perfect 10 by randomizing your profile, a trick where the developers “chuck in random bits of data every single session in order to make it so you’re much harder to identify.” With the team also testing automatic site containers and a privacy tuning tool in Brave Nightly, that out-of-the-box protection is only getting stronger.

LibreWolf actually led going into the final usability round, but its strict settings tanked its score to five out of 10 since everyday sites like YouTube can randomly break.

As the host noted, “with LibreWolf, you trade privacy for convenience,” while Brave scored nine out of 10 for working smoothly right away and only lost a point for bundling AI and crypto tools. That gave Brave the win with 23 points out of 30, edging out LibreWolf at 22, while Firefox and Zen tied at 21 and Vivaldi came last with 14.

 
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PiunikaWeb’s Take

It’s no surprise to see Brave at the top. Because it runs the Chromium engine, websites and pages load smoothly and sometimes even offer a better viewing experience than Firefox. Plus, you can skip the AI and crypto bloat by turning it off or using the entirely stripped-down Brave Origin build we mentioned when covering Brave’s push to become the default browser on Linux distros.

What really stood out to me, though, was the cliffhanger ending where the host says, “The choice really is yours. But the one that I use in my personal life is…” right before the video cuts out. Since we already spotted job listings showing that Proton might be quietly working on its own privacy browser, that cheeky teaser practically confirms an official reveal is coming.

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Dwayne Cubbins
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I cover fast-moving stories across apps, online platforms, and everyday tech — phones, wearables, consoles, and whatever else people are fighting with this week. Bugs, rollouts, scams, policy enforcement, and the occasional internet-culture rabbit hole are all fair game. My goal is simple — make confusing tech news readable. When I'm not working, I'm working out or chilling with my dog. Got a tip? You can find me on X @dcubbins.