Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, or Safari: Which Browser Is Best for 2024?

Most people need no introduction to the search behemoth’s browser, Google Chrome. It has an attractive design and is quick to load pages. Most website codes now target Chrome, so compatibility is seldom an issue. Chrome is available for all major platforms, and the mobile version can sync bookmarks, passwords, and settings. 

Chrome doesn’t have many unique browsing features, though the search company recently added AI-powered tools to organize tabs by similarity and generate images for custom themes. These capabilities trail Edge’s Copilot features, but Google has more experimental Gemini features in the works. Otherwise, the browser’s built-in Google Lens gives you a way to use image elements to start a search. There’s no built-in VPN, no cryptocurrency locker, no notes feature, and no screenshot tool.  

Google makes a feeble gesture toward a reading mode. It works only in a sidebar, with the full distracting page still showing in the center of the browser window. The lack of a true reading mode makes sense for a company that earns its keep through web ads since reading modes hide them. All the other browsers here have full-page reading modes. 

Chrome allows multiple profiles, which means different users of the same computer maintain their own browser settings, favorites, and history. The browser finally has a Share icon next to the address bar that makes it easier to send sites via social media or email. A new feature lets you compare products across multiple tabs. 

After years of threatening to do so, Google is finally (and controversially) adopting the Manifest v3 extension standard, thereby removing the API function that allows ad-blocker software to function fully. All extensions, not just ad-blockers, must adhere to this new standard. There are some good things about it, however. It promises to lead to more efficient resource use and block online code from running extensions. The company’s separate Privacy Sandbox initiative (in development) tries to cater to both ad targeting and user privacy. Some worry that this will only further strengthen the company’s grip on web advertising and user profiling, and the move is facing backlash from government regulators. 

Windows’ default web browser, Microsoft Edge, uses Chrome’s web page-rendering code, Chromium. This guarantees broad site compatibility and frees up its developers to add unique features. Edge now runs on macOS and Windows desktops. Mobile versions for Android and iOS let you sync favorites, history, and passwords. 

Edge’s optional sidebar offers Copilot generative AI features, including the ability to summarize the current web page you’re on, create an image or essay based on a text prompt, or simply find more detailed information. You can customize the sidebar with first- and third-party services for messaging, productivity, search, and social networking.

Edge is a leader in disk usage, performance, and thrifty memory management. Startup Boost technology reduces the time it takes to open the browser, and a sleeping tabs feature means those you’re not viewing use less memory. The browser’s Efficiency mode can also extend laptop battery life. Other focuses include privacy and a customizable start page. For enterprise customers who still rely on Internet Explorer to run legacy programs, Edge offers an IE Mode. 

Edge’s Collections feature uses a sidebar onto which you can add images, notes, and web pages and then share the whole assemblage to Excel, OneNote, or Word. It’s great for research. The browser’s Immersive Reader mode not only offers distraction-free web reading, but it can also read web page text aloud using Neural Voices with surprisingly natural intonation.

Other notable Edge options include automatic coupons for shopping sites, an option to show tabs down the side rather than across the top, a screenshot tool, a split-window mode, and timely themes to dress up your browser. It also includes a couple of gaming features, including Clarity Boost for sharper images in web games. 

The default Mac and iOS browser is a strong choice, though its interface has some nonstandard elements. Safari was a forerunner in several areas of browser features. For example, it was the first with a Reading mode, which cleared unnecessary clutter like ads and videos from web articles. That feature debuted in 2010 and has made its way into all other browsers.  

The macOS Sequoia update adds AI Reading mode features to Safari, including summaries and tables of contents for long articles. It also adds a Highlights option that summarizes business webpages with contact info, hours, and a small map.

Apple was early to mention fingerprinting protection—preventing web trackers from identifying you by your system specs. Unfortunately, the EFF’s Cover Your Tracks test site only shows partial protection from trackers in Safari, while several competitors get a result of Strong protection. For iCloud+ subscribers, Safari’s Private Relay obscures your IP address, similar to a VPN. Other benefits of Apple’s browser include support for Apple Pay, Keychain, and the “Sign in with Apple” feature that replaces Facebook and Google account authorization.  

If you use an iPhone and a Mac, Safari’s cross-platform integrations are very convenient. Apple’s Handoff feature, for example, lets you continue your browsing session between devices.

Safari differs from other browsers in support for HTML and CSS features, so you may run into the occasional site incompatibilities.

Firefox, an open-source project from the nonprofit Mozilla Foundation, has long been a PCMag favorite. The browser has pioneered many web capabilities, and the organization developing it strongly advocates online privacy. On that last front, Firefox can securely manage your passwords and offers a paid VPN.

Firefox is also notable for its wealth of available extensions. The unique Multi-Account Containers extension, for instance, lets you sequester multiple logins to the same site on different tabs. Without it, you’d have to open a private browsing window or start a fresh session on another browser.

Mozilla’s browser was among the first to support new HTML and CSS capabilities, and the company is working on open-source AR and speech synthesis standards.

The Pocket button in Firefox’s toolbar lets you save a page for later viewing anywhere with one click. The Reader View button declutters a web page so you can focus on the text. Picture-in-picture (PiP) video supports closed captions, along with HDR and AV1 video formats. The browser is very customizable, too. You can select and arrange buttons on the toolbar to taste, as well as select from many themes that change window border patterns and colors. 

Recent additions include PDF editing and the Firefox View feature, which is essentially a pinned tab of recent sites that syncs between the desktop and mobile versions of the browser. Mozilla is working on performance improvements, streamlined menus, and vertical tabs.

The mobile Firefox apps offer an excellent interface. You can send a tab from one device to any others that use the same syncing account. This is a slick and useful feature.

Perennially hovering around the 2% usage level, the Opera browser has long been a pioneer in the segment. It invented basic browser features like CSS, the search box, and tabs. Opera is available for all major platforms, and the Opera Mini mobile browser saves data by streaming a compressed version of websites. It uses the Chromium page-rendering engine, so you’ll rarely run into site incompatibilities. Performance is fast, too.

Opera can make a bigger privacy claim than the other browsers here. It’s built-in VPN (actually an encrypted proxy server) protects and reroutes traffic from Opera to cloak your IP address. Another unique feature is its ad blocker, which also blocks crypto-mining scripts and trackers. This is a benefit for both privacy and data usage.

Opera’s innovative Speed Dial serves as your start and new tab pages. Its quick-access sidebar includes popular services like Spotify and WhatsApp—Edge and other browsers have copied this. My Flow lets you send webpages and notes between devices easily. The browser has a Pinboard tool similar to Edge’s Collections, a video pop-out window, and a Workspaces feature that lets you create function-based tab views. Like Chrome and Edge, Opera provides generative AI capabilities (Aria) in a sidebar. And like Edge, Opera includes a cash-back feature for saving while you shop online.  

Opera uniquely offers a cryptocurrency wallet, which supports most popular tokens. It also intriguingly maintains a gaming browser called Opera GX and owns a gaming engine.