On Linux and Android. What are privacy oriented alternatives to Firefox now that it’s no longer trustworthy?
The ability to sync between devices would be a huge bonus, even just on a local network.
I just installed Librewolf today, using it now. Being a fork of FF it makes a very smooth transition.
LibreWolf finally has an account at mastodon @librewolf@chaos.social
I made the switch, its worth noting that there is some differences, like not keeping cookies by default, and you’re not able to set it dark mode etc. These can be fixed up through extensions or config changes.
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I use a similar set up. Librewolf on Linux and IronFox on Android. You could still use a Firefox account to sync, but I wouldn’t. I’ve heard there’s a way to host an older version of Firefox sync locally, but I haven’t looked into it.
Second the Ironfox recommendation.
Not OP, but I’ve never heard of IronFox. Is it a comparable replacement for Mull? Gods I’m still a bit salty over how sudden that was…
It’s a fork of Mull, in fact!
Yes IronFox is a fork of Mull, and though it does have a couple of differences in opinion on the balance of privacy and usability, it’s very similar. I’ve been using it since shortly after we lost Mull.
Is this the GitHub repo for it?
Yep
Thanks. :)
This + xBrowserSync for bookmarks.
This is what I use.
And this is the latest sync server that doesn’t rely on discontinued versions of Python: https://github.com/mozilla-services/syncstorage-rs/. It’s not a full, plug and play solution, and it doesn’t support PostgreSql so I haven’t set it up in my self hosted environment yet, but plan to eventually.
I made this https://github.com/jeena/fxsync-docker/ which supports PostgreSQL but sadly they broke the upstream images in newer versions.
Someone did the work to rebuild the images and fix the problems in new versions, looks promising: https://github.com/porelli/firefox-sync
If you want to keep the Gecko Engine from Mozilla to support an alternative to Google’s monopoly here are a couple alternative for Linux :
- Librewolf
- Mullvad Browser
- Zen Browser
For Android you have to be aware that unfortunately every firefox based browser lack of per-site isolation unlike chromium browsers.
- IronFox (active fork of Mull by DivestOS)
- Fennec
On the dark side of the spectrum you have chromium browser such as :
- Brave (Linux & Android) (disable cryptocrap, sponsor backgrounds and it’s quite good)
- Cromite (Android)
Vivaldi is much better than brave, no ai or crypto shit and the CEO isn’t alt right
Vivaldi is pretty awesome. The massive levels of customization are next level compared to other Chromium options. I use it first if needing to use a site that is hard-coded to reject Firefox or other non-Chromium browsers. Also use it as a feed reader a lot.
Yes Vivaldi doesn’t come with crypto bullshit nor AI. However by default it’s so badly tuned for user privacy… and sprobably even security. Honestly I would prefer having a Vivaldi AI Agent over a proprietary web browser (I know it’s mainly open but it’s not) It was not that well optimized on several of my devices when I tried it… I’m not conviced by their chromium proprietary fork even tho it’s not the worst alternative either.
For Android you have to be aware that unfortunately every firefox based browser lack of per-site isolation unlike chromium browsers.
Wait really? Its 2025, seriously, what is Mozilla doing?
Collecting paychecks for being controlled opposition?
Yes, I learned that thanks to DivestOS which was comming with Mull, they had a comparison table and yes no FF based browser support that basic security feature yet…
I use ungoogled-chromium & thorium are worth a mention.
I have been daily driving Zen and aside from some random issues here and there when they mess with the UI (which is to be expected with a beta). It kind of reminds me of how cool Firefox felt back in the day coming from IE. Has been fun to see real progress and effort to try weird things that are local to the browser. Not trying to acquire costly extra services/products that take resources away from the browser. I just really wish Mozilla would have (or even start) allowing people to donate towards just the browser.
Some of the extra stuff they have have the option to directly support. The browser is still worth being a real option that isn’t just some Chromium-based BS. Yet they keep trying to divert money to everything but it. I hope that the major forks of FF start tying to prepare for going forward in the main code without Mozilla when/if the time comes. This new IE that is Chrome/Chromium can’t be allowed to keep going and dictating what is and isn’t allowed.
I also have LibreWolf and Mullvad (along with tor) and like them for the efforts in privacy and security. But are too restrictive for daily use for me. Mostly use them only with VPN when finding torrents and other stuff that I don’t want to be tied to an account/syncing (not just NSFW but searching and looking into political or questionable topics). Very happy to have options no matter what.
I’ve been using LibraWolf on desktop for several years now. It’s just far simpler than modifying standard Firefox. for my personal needs.
LibreWolf is great ! Coming from ArkenFox, I found LibreWolf’s override cfg a bit easier.
They also have a pacdiff cfg to see what changes from version to version without the need to roam arkenfoxes github repo for hours to find what changed or what to change.
I installed it yesterday to see how it goes :) If it doesn’t fit, will go back to Arkenfox.
power of ‘community-driven’ projects
https://digdeeper.club/articles/browsers.xhtml has a somewhat comprehensive analysis of a dozen of the browsers you might consider, illuminating depressing (and sometimes surprising) privacy problems with literally all of them.
In the end it absurdly recommends something which forked from Firefox a very long time ago, which is obviously not a reasonable choice from a security standpoint. I don’t have a good recommendation, but I definitely don’t agree with that article’s conclusion: privacy features are pointless if your browser is trivially vulnerable to exploits for a plethora of old bugs, which will inevitably be the case for a volunteer-run project that diverged from Firefox a long time ago and thus cannot benefit from Mozilla’s security fixes in each new release.
However, despite its ridiculous conclusion, that page’s analysis could still be helpful when you’re deciding which of the terrible options to pick.
While it was an interesting read, the article is quite outdated and the author is overly negative of literally everything, not just privacy. If a browser has a glowy button, it’s horrible because it’s too fancy… I feel for the guy…
Floorp and librewolf, among others.
neither of them are aviable for android
Ironfox for Android
Ironfox on Android, easily is the best.
So I haven’t been following the Firefox thing that closely. Fennec isn’t an alternative because it uses Firefox’s Sync and Brave is out of the question because it’s crypto Chrome?
Fennec is a poor alternative because it connects to Firefox services. Sync is optional, but some internal components will talk to Mozilla, and Mozilla changed their mind about “never selling your data” recently.
Brave is Chrome with a history of suspicious moves, toxic leadership, involvement with crypto and AI
I remembered using Vivaldi a while back, I think I’ll look into it again.
Still buggy
LibreWolf is what I use, but I heard Zen Browser is another fork that’s been getting some traction. I don’t use it though, but I’ve heard from someone who does that it works for them. thumbs-up
Zen looks good, but being more unique couldn’t it get fingerprinted more easily?
Also their community is on Discord, which to me is a red flag quite frankly. I realize it’s separate from the browser, but still. Discord no good.
Yeah I don’t personally like how unlike LibreWolf it doesn’t use ResistFingerprinting.
these days if i find any project exclusively active on socials like discord and twitter, and github forge, i quit using it. i mean i wont be registering an account there just for community support.
Being fair, just using a non-Chromium based browser these days kind of gives a major fingerprinting starting point.
United front.
Been using Zen for the past week. It takes some getting used to, but it’s been great so far.
Just amazing how people wake up, watch a bit of YouTube and run to social media saying the sky is falling in.
Or you can stay on a sinking ship convince yourself “It’s fine !” until it’s too late?
Whatever chose your poison 🤷
Interesting metaphor.
At what point is too late ? What the consequences here, of giving it a few days? Of understanding to steps you can take protect your data ?
Because what you have now, is a bunch of idiots, running round yelling “Firefox is untrustworthy “. And jumping straight on the next fork of 20 million lines of code, because Internet bro says it’s better .
They havent the faintest, and I mean the faintest idea of what trust is,
I get you ! And you’re right. It’s never to late though, until it is. We/they have been betrayed more than once by big tech and monopoly, so I think it’s justified to feel a bit anxious when something out of bound to user’s privacy/consent is implemented in the only real alternative we have right now…
I mean, sure Firefox is the only last bastion against big tech’s monopoly and all forks are depending on Firefox… So that’s not truely a real long term solution as alternative (If something is going to happen…). But as a long term Firefox user, I also have the feeling they are slowly following a dark/uncertain path.
Sure, right now it’s not that of a big deal, but what if in 3 years it becomes a big deal? Imagine a scenario where all web browsers become controlled by one single entity? Wouldn’t it be good to have an alternative? (Yeah there is Tor already) This is only possible in this kind of “hysteria” where some people take the lead before it’s too late, otherwise we will be stuck for years without any working solution, while depending on big data’s scrapper/hoarder riddled with ads and privacy invasive browsing…
Hope it make sense and that my arguments are somehow comprehensible? Not my first language so giving my best haha !
Edit: It’s not a matter of if, but when (but I hope that doesn’t apply to Firefox)
Edit2:
Just think about the Linux kernel, right now it’s the only best alternative to Windows/MacOS and everything is perfect. But what will happen in a few years when Linus steps down? Will it still be as good as today? Will big tech take a step into the kernel? Will it become the next Windows/MacOS? Who knows… That’s why alternatives are always a good thing to have before it’s too late !!
Understood .
I’m sad to see Firefox moving in this direction - it difficult to deny any more - but I don’t like the drama causing everyone to dump it like it’s a virus !
Use any fork of Firefox without the sync option.
Sorry I’ve been out of the loop, the encrypted sync isn’t safe anymore? I’m using forks since a while but I rely heavily on sync
You can also selfhost sync!
Yes, that’s a great idea. I’m tempted to do that but my old NAS is hardly keeping up with all the services I’ve deployed on it so far
Can’t trust Mozilla anymore with the data, so you’re better off finding alternatives. You can check out: xBrowserSync
You can also just selfhost Firefox sync!
Oh, I didn’t know that. Thanks for the suggestion. It’s gonna be on my home server soon! ✅
You can check out: xBrowserSync
I wish, but at 10MB size limit, it won’t do
Floorp :)
librewolf, mullvad, zen browser? all fork of firefox
Not really an option because he said Android
You can use any firefox fork on Linux and any other firefox fork on Android. They sync fine.
useful to me, a non-android user who clicked because the title doesn’t say anything about it.
Cromite
Cromite is exceptional.
