I have used the gecko browser engine for many years; I even remember using Firebird back in the day. When Firefox decided to "evolve into a modern AI browser", I looked at the alternatives that were presented by my fellow GoLers. I ended up choosing Waterfox. It seems to be less resource intensive, works with my goto entensions and is focused on privacy.

I'm currently still using Firefox, although I'm not happy with the direction that they've taken and are intending to take in the future.

The list of grievances over the years is long – small things like switching the position of buttons every other month, adding that stupid menu button that is impossible to remove, adding more and more bloat to the context menu while hiding things I use deep in the extras menu to larger things like the memory inefficiencies of the bookmarks system, the telemetry, Pocket support, the broken mobile version that is incapable by design to be used on local files, AI this and AI that…

For me, the worst thing is that everything they do seems to be driven by a mad effort to imitate Chrome/Chromium instead of keeping their own vision of a browser alive. I remember the Netscape Navigator days – so much bloat. The lite and quick re-imagination of a browser was a huge deal. It was so much better – especially before it became the main project. Years later all the bloat has been added on top of the slim browser and the result something that looks completely without any clear vision. I'm still baffled by the idea that someone would think that it is a good idea to follow the imagined pressure of a faster change of major version number. Why would anyone think that a project is better if the stable version changes so quickly?

I'll stop the rant at this point because it feels pointless. Sorry.

I've used Qutebrowser on my desktop and laptops pretty much exclusively for the past few years, and recently switched to Brave (previously used Firefox) on my Android phone.

Quoting: JarmerA lot has happened in the past year in the world of browsers. It's important to pick a good one in 2026, since they essentially act as another layer of OS running all kinds of apps and connections.

With AI infesting everything it can get its grubby fingers on, the state of browsers now is so different than it has been in the past.

So ... what are you all using?

Personally, I don't / won't use anything with AI built into the core of the browser. Using an agent on a site: fine. I just don't want it built-in. So right now I'm using:

Librewolf on desktop linux
Orion on ios mobile & macos laptop

Once Orion exits alpha on linux, I'll start using it there and be fully syncd with it on all my devices. Love what the kagi folks are doing.

I use mostly tor browser, but admit to sometimes using the extended support firefox that came with my distro.

Quoting: KlaasI'm currently still using Firefox, although I'm not happy with the direction that they've taken and are intending to take in the future.

The list of grievances over the years is long – small things like switching the position of buttons every other month, adding that stupid menu button that is impossible to remove, adding more and more bloat to the context menu while hiding things I use deep in the extras menu to larger things like the memory inefficiencies of the bookmarks system, the telemetry, Pocket support, the broken mobile version that is incapable by design to be used on local files, AI this and AI that…

For me, the worst thing is that everything they do seems to be driven by a mad effort to imitate Chrome/Chromium instead of keeping their own vision of a browser alive. I remember the Netscape Navigator days – so much bloat. The lite and quick re-imagination of a browser was a huge deal. It was so much better – especially before it became the main project. Years later all the bloat has been added on top of the slim browser and the result something that looks completely without any clear vision. I'm still baffled by the idea that someone would think that it is a good idea to follow the imagined pressure of a faster change of major version number. Why would anyone think that a project is better if the stable version changes so quickly?

I'll stop the rant at this point because it feels pointless. Sorry.

all of those things are true, and what makes it so sad is ..... just why? All they had to do is listen to their userbase, fix bugs, implement features the USERS wanted, and they'd be in WAY better shape now than they are. Instead they did literally the opposite: never listened to their users, ignored long standing bugs, and implemented "features" aka bloat that nobody ever asked for and confused / irritated the users. Just a masterclass in product mismanagement.

Ladybird also seems like a great project, but at the same time seems years away, so for now just ignoring.

Been using Vivaldi as an alternative to Chrome for years now. We use Chrome at work, so I can definitely appreciate how much better Vivaldi is.

Recently switched away from Firefox to LibreWolf (running as an AppImage!). Been very happy with that.

Just learned about WaterFox recently from GoL. Haven't tried it yet.

The Orion Linux alpha just launched!! Wohoo! It’s got a LONG way to go but so amazing to try it out.

vivaldi browser. Been running it for the last 6-7 years i think
no AI slop, lots of configuration options.

every other browser feels like its missing configuration options for my needs and now with todays AI slop every browser seems to have that crap by default, so yeah.

Librewolf is the closest thing to a usable "modern" browser I've found.

Amongst the other Firefox forks, I want to like pale moon, but as Ernest Tubb and Red Foley sang: it's too old to cut the mustard anymore.😆 A lot of sites just refuse to load properly, given the garbage-heap called "modern web-standards".

Waterfox's past is just as questionable as Firefox's present. Two half-baked ideas are worse than a finished lousy one. With legacy moribund, there's no reason for me to use it over Librewolf. Same with Icecat.

Seamonkey fells just like using Mozilla and/or Netscape. Which was a terrible experience as a student 20-23 years ago.

I've also tried several lightweight browsers such as lynx, dillo, and netsurf. Of those only netsurf was even slightly useful. For loading older sites such as Ectozone (A Ghostbusters fan-site) correctly.

As for proprietary browsers, keep-em-away-from-me!🤮 I use chromium only for shopping, and only because most sites seem to expect it.