Google's Chrome is by far the most popular browser in the world, but there are plenty of better options when it comes to security and privacy.

Brave, a free and open source browser that has surged in popularity in recent years, is definitely superior to Chrome in this regard—and it's got a bunch of cool features Chrome lacks.

If you want to stay secure and keep your privacy online, you should absolutely consider ditching Chrome for Brave. Here are five reasons why.

1. Brave Automatically Blocks Trackers and Ads

Screenshot showing blocked trackers and ads in Brave browser

By default, Brave provides much stronger privacy protections than Chrome because it automatically blocks trackers, cross-site cookies, and advertisements.

By simply clicking the Brave Shields icon in the address bar of any page you visit, you can easily check what the browser is blocking at any given moment.

If you just load a random YouTube video and click the Shields icon, you'll notice Brave blocking at least a dozen trackers—and observe it adding more in real-time.

And if you want to tinker with the settings, just click Advanced Controls in the Shields pop-up menu. Here, you can enable aggressive blocking of trackers and ads, scripts, and cookies.

Needless to say, this isn't just about privacy. Hackers often deploy malware through ads, and visiting even perfectly legitimate sites via Chrome without an ad blocker will expose you to unnecessary risk.

2. Brave Has Built-In Tor Connectivity

Screenshot of the private Tor window in Brave browser

Tor, short for The Onion Router, is a secure and encrypted protocol that obscures a user's information by routing traffic through a series of different servers.

Most dark web users typically access this protocol via its official browser, the Tor Browser, but you can also access it via Brave. To access Tor in Brave, navigate to the Brave menu and select New Private Window with Tor. Alternatively, you can press Alt+Shift+N on your keyboard.

Of course, one can always use Chrome for daily internet activity and the Tor Browser on special occasions, but why do that when you can do both via Brave, stay safe and preserve your privacy simultaneously?

However, we'd like to quickly point out that the Tor protocol is neither 100 percent safe nor 100 percent anonymous—nothing is—so make sure to have good anti-malware installed, use a VPN, and follow basic security protocols.

3. Brave Protects Against Fingerprinting

Logo of the Brave browser shown with a fingerprint

Browser fingerprinting is an umbrella term used to describe the various techniques websites use to identify and track users.

People often confuse website cookies with fingerprinting and believe blocking cookies and installing extensions is enough to enhance protection and privacy. In reality, cookies and browser fingerprinting are two completely different things.

Fingerprinting works by collecting user data through scripts. These scripts work in the background and collect information about your device, browser, and operating system. They also help third parties learn where you are, which extensions you have installed, and where you go online.

But how do Chrome and Brave compare when it comes to fingerprinting?

Brave automatically blocks fingerprinting, and the user can easily enable aggressive blocking via the Shields menu.

Chrome, on the other hand, does nothing. Sure, you could try and find an extension designed to obscure your online fingerprint, but simply installing Brave and letting it do its thing seems like a much better and more convenient option.

4. Brave Is Not Big Tech

Twitter, Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple logos are seen on a yellow background

In 2020, as The New York Times reported, the U.S. Justice Department described Google as a tech giant with a monopoly over online search engines and the ads appearing in search results.

Tech enthusiasts and privacy advocates have been saying the same for years, pointing to Google's data collection practices as evidence.

The fact that Chrome is a product of Google should be enough to give any privacy-conscious person pause about using it, but even if you are not opposed to Big Tech on principle, learning how much Chrome knows about you will make you think twice about using it.

Brave is pretty much the exact opposite of Chrome. It is an open-source browser that primarily focuses on protecting user privacy. It collects no data about its users and makes money via advertising, but there is a twist: only users who opt-in to view ads view them, and they can earn money in Basic Attention Token (BAT) doing it.

5. Brave Upgrades Connections to HTTPS and Bypasses AMP

Brave browser logo seen behind a WWW sign on a green background, with https and amp

Unlike Chrome, Brave automatically updates all connections to HTTPS.

The HTTP protocol is a major security risk since it sends requests and responses in plain text, meaning anyone can read and access them. HTTPS is much safer because it uses encryption, making it virtually impossible for threat actors, or anyone else for that matter, to read requests.

AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) are web pages automatically cached by Google and served from its servers. Google claims that its AMP project aims to improve website performance, but that's not all there is to it.

AMPs are not just harmful to privacy but also bad for security and allow Google to collect additional data. As of April 2022, Brave automatically de-AMPs every page on the internet.

Chrome vs. Brave: How Do They Compare?

Chrome and Brave logos seen on blue background

Chrome collects all sorts of data about you, primarily via cookie tracking. According to Chrome's privacy policy, this includes browsing history, records of what you download, login information, location information, server log information, and more.

To Google's credit, there are ways to manage data collection in Chrome, primarily by changing the default settings and installing privacy-focused extensions. Plus, there are plenty of useful Chrome extensions out there, with ad blockers being an absolute must.

But why go through all that trouble, compromise on security, and still risk Google collecting your data when you can simply just install Brave, which does pretty much everything you'd want a browser to do out-of-the-box?

If Chrome was faster, prettier, and easier to use than Brave, then one would perhaps face an actual dilemma. But, that is just not the case. Brave is about twice as fast as Chrome, much safer, more private, intuitive, easy to use, minimalist, and highly customizable.

Chome's Security Concerns Have Made Brave Successful

In conclusion, Brave may have a long way to go before it surpasses Chrome in popularity, but it has attracted millions of privacy-conscious users for legitimate reasons.

You may still prefer Chrome for valid reasons, but at least you now know what you're getting yourself into. As long as you have the proper security measures in place, we won't blame you for using Google's web browser.