If you're considering Firefox or Opera, it's safe to say you're probably quite privacy-minded. And if that's the case, Firefox takes the cake here.
That said, we really don't recommend either of these browsers, check out our recommendation for the best browsers instead.
We believe there are better options available in this category, read below to learn what this software does well, and what they could do better. ⤵
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No shady privacy policies or back doors for advertisers. Just a lightning fast browser that doesn’t sell you out.
Firefox is one of the only privacy-focused browsers that is not built atop Chromium, in theory giving it further distance from the stronghold that Google has in the browser market.
What this ultimately means is all the Chrome extensions that people use and rely on are not compatible with Firefox unless rebuilt specifically for it. Think of it like iOS, Android, and Windows Phone/BlackBerry (which neither exist anymore, but the point is), you'll typically get developers building for iOS first (think of as Chromium/Chrome), Android second (think of as Webkit/Safari), and then Quantum Browser Engine third (Firefox).
Because of that, while you may be choosing a "privacy-focused" browser like Firefox, you're also getting substantially less third-party app support, and a higher chance of websites not performing as intended (like legacy banks or modern sites using newer technology). It simply comes down to there not being enough marketshare for web developers to focus on making everything work properly in Firefox as it only accounts for less than 3% of global marketshare.
Given this foundational difference, it means that the millions of Chrome extensions that are accessible to people, are not in Firefox, unless they rebuild it for Firefox, giving people less options if they choose Firefox as their primary browser.
For that reason, most people who use Firefox also use a second browser as well (typically based on Chromium), like Arc Browser, Chrome, or Brave for when they need full features and functionality like full Chrome Extension support.
That said, while they are a non-profit and privacy focused, they still make the far majority of their money from Google ($500M/yr) by having Google as the default search engine. So if you want to be a sustainable browser, you really need to just make a deal with Google in some way.
Some argue that Google is in some way strategically paying Firefox at this point just to make it seem like Chrome is not a monopoly.
Opera Browser is fully-featured for privacy, security, and everything you do online.
Opera has managed to stay about as relevant in the browser space as Firefox, which is just a tad bit behind that of Microsoft Edge.
Interestingly enough, unlike most other major browsers on the market, Opera is actually a publicly traded company with about a $1B market cap. This is particularly interesting because it means that they need to focus on growing revenue as they have investors.
In their attempt to stay relevant, they have copied many features from the more modern browsers on the market like Arc Browser (e.g. Spaces and Folders).
Opera has been called out a bit lately for being owned by a Chinese company, and for making most of its revenue from Ads, meaning they very well are tracking, storing, and selling details about how you're using the browser.
While tempting and seemingly impressive, there's just something in the heavy influencer marketing push and security concerns that make us have a bit of pause in actually using Opera as our daily driver.
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