Fast linux web browser

Best Web Browsers for Ubuntu and Other Linux Distributions

Last updated September 5, 2021 By Ankush Das 41 Comments

There is no such thing as the perfect web browser. It all depends on what you prefer and what you use it for.

But, what are your best options when it comes to web browsers for Linux?

In this article, I try to highlight the best web browsers that you can pick for Ubuntu and other Linux.

Note: We have tried and tested these browsers on Ubuntu. But, you should be able to install it on any Linux distribution of your choice.

Top Web Browsers for Linux

Every browser offers something unique. And, when it comes to the Linux platform, there are some interesting exclusive choices as well.

Before you see this list, please note that it is not a ranking list. The browser listed at number 1 should not be considered better than the ones at 2, 3 or 10.

Some applications mentioned here are not open source. They are listed here because they are available on Linux and the article’s focus is on Linux. We have a separate dedicated list of open source web browsers as well.

1. Vivaldi

Pros

• Sidebar for quick web application access
• Calendar and Email integration
• Unique tab management
• Pomodoro (clock timer) feature
• Mobile app available

Cons

• Resource-heavy when using a variety of features
• Not 100% open-source

Vivaldi is an impressive browser that has been getting more attention from Linux users more than ever.

While it is not 100% open-source, you can find most of its source code (except for its UI) online.

With Vivaldi 4.0 release, they have been focusing more on improving the experience for Linux users. You can set clock timers to increase your work productivity, use the built-in translation for web pages, track your calendar, add shortcuts to web applications, and multi-task at its peak with this browser.

Even though it is a fast web browser, I wouldn’t bet on it as the “fastest” or lightest. You need a good amount of memory (RAM) to make use of all the features while you work on stuff.

Overall, it is a feature-rich web browser. So, if you need something with as many as features possible to multi-task, Vivaldi can be your choice.

How to Install Vivaldi on Linux?

Vivaldi offers both .deb and .rpm packages to let you directly install it in your Linux system.

You can refer to our resources to install Deb files and install RPM files in case you are new to Linux.

2. Mozilla Firefox

Pros

• Privacy protection
• Not based on Chrome engine
• Open Source
• Firefox Account services

Cons

• User Experience changes with major updates

Firefox is the default web browser for most Linux distributions. Hence, it is an obvious choice to start with.

In addition to being open-source, it offers some of the best privacy protection features. And, with the right settings, you can turn it into one of the most secure browsers similar to Tor Browser (which is also based on Firefox).

Not just limited to its security, but Firefox also offers useful integrated features like Pocket (to save web pages and read later), VPN, email alias, breach monitor, and more when you sign in with your Firefox account.

How to Install Firefox on Linux?

It should already come pre-installed in your Linux distribution. But, if it is not present, you can search for it in the software center or install it using the terminal with the following command:

3. Chromium

Pros

• Open Source Chrome alternative
• Similar features to Google Chrome

Cons

• Lacks certain features that Google Chrome offers

Chromium is the open-source alternative and the base for Google Chrome and many other chrome-based browsers.

If you do not want to use Google Chrome, chromium’s your best bet to get the same experience on Linux.

Even though Google controls Chromium and has been locking down Chrome, it is a good option for Linux systems.

How to Install Chromium on Linux?

You should be able to find it easily in the software center. But, if you need help, refer to our installation guide for Chromium.

4. Google Chrome

Pros

• Seamless integration with Google services

Cons

Google Chrome is an excellent web browser unless you do not want to opt for a proprietary solution or products by Google.

You get all the essential features and the ability to integrate all Google services. If you prefer using Google Chrome on Android and want to sync across multiple platforms, it is an obvious choice for desktop Linux.

If you were looking for a simple and capable web browser while using Google services, Google Chrome can be a great pick.

How to Install Google Chrome on Linux?

Google Chrome offers both Deb and RPM packages to let you install on any Ubuntu-based or Fedora/openSUSE distribution.

If you need help with the installation, I should point you to our guide on installing Google Chrome on Linux.

5. Brave Browser

Pros

• Privacy protection features
• Performance

Cons

• No account-based (cloud) sync

Brave browser is one of the most popular Linux browsers.

It is an open-source project and is based on chromium. It offers several useful privacy protection features and is known for its blazing-fast performance.

Unlike any other browser, you can get rewards even if you block advertisements on websites. The rewards you collect can only be used to give back to your favorite websites. This way, you get to block ads and also support the website.

You can expect a faster user experience with minimum resource usage.

It offers sync capabilities, but you need to have one of the connected devices, considering it lacks a cloud-based sync feature.

We also have a detailed comparison article on Brave vs Firefox, if you need to decide between the two.

How to Install Brave on Linux?

Unlike some other web browsers, you cannot directly find a package or in the software center. You need to enter some commands in the terminal to install the browser.

Fret not, you can follow our instructions to install brave browser to proceed.

6. Opera

Pros

• Free VPN in-built
• Extra features

Cons

While Opera is not the most popular choice, it is definitely a useful browser for Linux users.

It comes with a built-in VPN and adblocker. So, you should have the basic privacy protection sorted with the help of the Opera web browser.

You can quickly access popular chat messengers right from the sidebar without needing to launch a separate app or window. This is similar to Vivaldi considering the side chat messenger web apps but the user experience is significantly different.

Overall, it is a good pick if you want a free VPN as an added bonus to other essential browsing features.

It is worth noting that Opera offers a unique Opera GX browser that lets you tweak/enforce limits on system resources when using a browser along with gaming activities. This was still in development for Linux at the time of writing, if it is available by the time you read it, that could be a fantastic option!

How to Install Opera?

Opera provides Deb package for Linux. You just head to its official website to download and install it.

7. Microsoft Edge

Pros

• Convenient option for Windows users who also use Linux

Cons

Microsoft Edge has surpassed Mozilla Firefox in terms of its popularity. Not just because it’s the default Windows browser, but it also offers a promising web experience while based on Chrome.

At the time of writing this article, Microsoft Edge is available as a beta release for Linux. It works fine at the moment but lacks quite a few features normally available for Windows.

Overall, you should find most of the essential features available.

If you use Windows and Linux as your desktop platforms, Microsoft Edge can come in handy as the preferred web browser.

How to install Microsoft Edge on Linux?

It is currently available through the Microsoft Insiders channel as a beta. So, this could change once the stable release is out.

For now, you can get the Deb/RPM file through the Microsoft Edge insiders web page and install it.

You can also have a look at our how-to article on installing Microsoft Edge on Linux.

Unique Web Browsers for Linux

Most of the users prefer to stick with the mainstream options because of security updates and future upgrades, but there are some different options as well. And, some exclusive to Linux users.

8. GNOME Web or Epiphany

Pros

Cons

• Lacks many features
• No cross-platform support

Epiphany browser is the default GNOME browser. elementary OS utilizes it as its default web browser.

It is a minimal browser that offers a clean and elegant user experience. You cannot sync your bookmarks or history, so you need to manually export them if you want to back them up or transfer to another browser.

How to Install GNOME Web?

You may find it pre-installed in some Linux distros. If not, you can check out its Flatpak package to install the latest version on any Linux distro.

9. Falkon

Pros

• Uses lightweight QtWebEngine rendering engine

Cons

Falkon is a QtWebEngine based browser with privacy in mind. It should be good enough for basic web browsing, but it may not be a solution for your daily driver.

It is available for Windows and Linux.

You can explore more about it and get the installation instructions in our dedicated article on Falkon browser.

10. Nyxt

Pros

• Highly customizable
• Keyboard use focused

Cons

• Suitable for certain users
• Lack of cross-platform support

Nyxt is an interesting web browser built for power keyboard users. You can browse and navigate the web using keyboard shortcuts.

To know more about it and the installation instructions, go through our detailed article on Nyxt browser.

Wrapping Up

When it comes to Linux, you get a variety of choices available to pick. I have deliberately skipped command line based web browsers like Lynx here.

So, what would be your selection for the best web browser?

Moreover, I’d be curious to know what do you look for when installing a web browser for your system?

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Like what you read? Please share it with others.

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16 Best Web Browsers I Discovered for Linux in 2020

Web Browser is a software that provides an interface to surf the web. With an introduction in around 1991, their development and advancement have advanced many folds till the current stage which we see today.

Earlier there used to be mostly text-based sites with few having images and graphical content, hence only text-based browsers sufficed with some of the early browsers being: Lynx, w3m, and eww.

But, with the advancement of technology to support audio, video, images and even flash content, browsers also need to be that advanced to support such content. This has pushed the advancement of browsers to what we see today.

A modern browser requires the support of many software which include: web browser engines like Geeko, Trident, WebKit, KHTML, etc, Rendering engine to render the web site content and display in a proper format.

Linux being an open-source community gives freedom to developers across the globe to experiment with features they expect from an ideal browser.

Some Web Browsers in Linux

Below are listed some best web browsers which are just perfect to be listed here. Usually, the features which distinguish a normal to a good browser are – Ability to support all types of data including audio, video, flash and HTML and HTML5, fast performance, memory friendly to adjust to old and new systems completely, ability to support maximum architectures like Intel, AMD and operating systems like: Windows, Mac, Unix-like, BSD to name a few.

1. Google Chrome

Accounted as the most popular web browser in smartphones and PC’s with more than half usage share of web browsers, Google Chrome is a freeware developed by Google. It forked from Chromium whose code is modified with certain add-ons to structure it. It uses the WebKit layout engine till version 27 and Blink thereafter. Written mostly in C++, it is available for many Operating Systems including Android, iOS, OS X, Windows, and Linux.

Features provided by Chrome include – bookmarking and synchronization, enhanced security, malware blocking, and addition of external plugins like AdBlock, etc available in Google Web Store which is provided as a default extension in Chrome. Also, it supports user tracking feature which can be enabled if required.

It is fast because of the inbuilt mechanism it uses, also is very stable with tabbed browsing, speed dials and incognito (private browsing ) mode, provides custom themes that can be installed as an extension from the web store. It is widely accepted as one of default browser which can be found in almost all systems, with mostly positive reviews.

Google Chrome Browser for Linux

Install Google Chrome on Ubuntu & Linux Mint

Install Google Chrome on Fedora

Install Google Chrome on CentOS/RHEL

2. Firefox

One of the popular Web Browsers, Firefox is also Open Source and available for major operating systems including OS X, Linux, Solaris, Linux, Windows, Android, etc. It is written majorly in C++, Javascript, C, CSS, XUL, XBL and released under MPL2.0 License.

Since its introduction, it has been praised for its speed and security add ons and even is often termed as the spiritual successor of Netscape Navigator. It uses the Gecko web engine in all the supported platforms leaving the latest one on iOS which doesn’t use Gecko.

Features supported by Firefox include: tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, live bookmarking, private browsing, add-on support which allows easy integration of many features. Apart from these, it supports many standards including: HTML4, XML, XHTML, SVG and APNG etc. It has been one of the popular web browsers in many Asian and African countries with more than a billion users around the world.

Firefox Browser for Linux

Install Firefox on Ubuntu & Linux Mint

Install Firefox on Fedora

Install Firefox on CentOS/RHEL

3. Opera

Another popular web browser, Opera is one of the earliest ones we have to date, with the initial version released in 1995, 25 years ago. It is written in C++ with availability marked for all Operating Systems including Windows, OS, Linux, OS X, Symbian and Mobile phones including Android, iOS. It uses the Blink web engine, whereas earlier versions used Presto.

Features of this browser include: speed-dial for quick search, tabbed browsing, downloads manager, Page Zooming which allows Flash, Java, and SVG to be increased or decreased as per user requirements, deletion of HTTP cookies, browsing history and other data on click of a button. Despite its criticism for compatibility, and other UI related issues, it has been one of the favorite browsers with a total of around 2.28% usage shares in mid of 2019.

Opera Browser for Linux

Install Opera on Ubuntu & Linux Mint

Install Opera on Fedora, CentOS, and RHEL

4. Vivaldi

Vivaldi is a new feature-rich cross-platform, freeware web browser that incorporates an Opera-like interface with a Chromium open-source platform, which was first officially launched on April 6, 2016, by Vivaldi Technologies and it is developed on web technologies such as HTML5, Node.js, React.js, and various NPM modules. As of March 2019, Vivaldi has 1.2 million active monthly users.

Vivaldi offers a minimalistic user interface with simple icons and fonts, and a color pattern that alters based on the background and design of the web sites being visited. It also enables users to customize the interface elements such as the overall theme, the address bar, start pages, and tab positioning.

Vivaldi Browser for Linux

Install Vivaldi on Debian, Ubuntu & Linux Mint

Install Vivaldi on Fedora, CentOS, and RHEL

5. Chromium

Widely known web browser, which forms the base from where Google Chrome takes its source code, Chromium is another Open Source web browser available for Linux, Windows, OS X, and Android Operating Systems. It is mainly written in C++ with the latest release being in December 2016. It is designed with a minimalistic user interface so as to make it lightweight and fast.

Features of Chromium include a tabbed window manager, support for Vorbis, Theora, WebM codecs for HTML5 Audio and Video, Bookmark and History and Session management. Apart from Google Chrome, Chromium also forms a base for a large number of other Web Browsers some of which are still active while others have been discontinued. Some of them are Opera, Dartium, Epic Browser, Vivaldi, Yandex Browser, Flock (discontinued), Rockmelt (discontinued) and many more.

Chromium Browser for Linux

Install Chromium on Debian, Ubuntu & Linux Mint

Install Chromium on Fedora

6. Midori

Midori is an open-source web browser developed In Vala and C with WebKit engine and GTK+ 2 and GTK+ 3 interface. With an initial stable release in 2007 and the latest stable release being in July 2019.

Midori is currently the default browser in many Linux distros including Manjaro Linux, elementary OS, SliTaz Linux, Bodhi Linux, Trisqel Mini, SystemRescue CD, old versions of Raspbian.

Major Features provided by it include HTML5 Support, Bookmark Management, Private Browsing, Windows, Tabs and Sessions management, Speed Dial, Easy integration of extensions which can be written in C and Vala, Unity Support. Midori has been mentioned as one of the alternative web browsers for Linux by LifeHacker and many other sites including TechRadar, ComputerWorld, and Gigaom.

Midori Browser for Linux

Install Midori on Linux

7. Falkon

Falkon (previously known as QupZilla) is another new web browser which started merely as a Research Project with the first release in December 2010 written in Python, and later releases being in C++ with a goal to develop a portable web browser. It is licensed under GPLv3 and available for Linux, Windows, OS X, FreeBSD.

QupZilla uses WebKit engine with QtWebKit to be in sync with modern web standards. It provides all the functions of a modern web browser including Speed Dial, built-in Ad Block feature, bookmark management, etc. Additional features that would make you opt this browser include Performance Optimization with memory consumption lower than most famous web browsers including Firefox and Google Chrome.

Falkon Browser for Linux

Install Falkon on Linux

8. Konqueror

Another multi-purpose Web Browser and File Manager, Konqueror is another one in the list. Developed in C++(Qt) and available for Operating Systems including Linux and Windows and licensed under GPLv2. As the name shows, Konqueror (starting with ‘K’) is the default browser for the KDE Desktop environment, replacing the then known KFM.

As a web browser, it uses KTML derived web rendering engine and also supports JavaScript, Java applets, CSS, Jquery. Its rendering abilities are unquestionable and better than most web browsers which highlight its performance optimization.

Other features include: Customizable search services (even custom search shortcut is also included which can be added), ability to show multimedia content within web pages due to integrated Kpart, Ability to open PDF, Open Document and other specific file types, integrates I/O plugin system which allows several protocols including HTTP, FTP, WebDAV, SMB, etc, ability to browse through local file system of user. Konqueror Embedded is another embedded version of Konqueror which is also available.

Konqueror Browser for Linux

Install Konqueror on Linux

9. Web (Epiphany) – GNOME Web

GNOME Web originally named Epiphany is another we browser which deserves a mention in the list. Written in C (GTK+) it was originally a fork of Galeon and since then has been part of the GNOME project and complies with GNOME’s guidelines at each stage of its development.

Initially, it used the Geeko engine but with version 2.20, it started using the WebKitGTK+ engine. The web provides support for Linux and BSD Operating Systems with source code available under GPLv2.

Features include HTML4, CSS1 and XHTML support including support for HTML5 and CSS3, inbuilt plugins of Adobe Flash and IcedTea, bookmark and “smart bookmark” feature which allows easy search in find-in-as-you-type manner, full integration with GNOME features including GNOME Network Manager, GNOME printer, etc, and other features supported by most browsers. While it has received mixed reviews, one capability for which it is praised by many is its fast launching and page-load capability.

Gnome Web Epiphany Browser for Linux

Install Epiphany on Linux

10. Pale Moon

Another browser based on Mozilla Firefox, Pale Moon is a replacement for Firefox on Linux, Windows, and Android. It is developed in C/C++ with Source Code available under MPL2.0 License. It retains the user interface seen in previous versions of Firefox, focusing only on web browsing abilities. Its latest version will use Gonna, which is a fork of Geeko, a web browser engine of Firefox.

Pale Moon focuses on speed optimization features and utilizes Microsoft C Compiler’s speed optimization, auto-parallelization features. Also, it removes unnecessary add on features that are not required i.e. crash reporter, accessibility hardware features, and targets Windows Vista and later OS due to which it may fail on older hardware. Other features include the DuckDuckGo default search engine, IP-API geolocation service, functional status bar, and enhanced customization.

Pale Moon Browser for Linux

11. Brave

The Brave is an open source and free web browser based on Chromium, that provides fast and secure private web browsing exprience for PC, Mac and mobile.

It offers ad-blocking, website tracking and provides a mode for users to send cryptocurrency donations in the form of Basic Attention Tokens to websites and content creators.

Brave Web Browser

12. Waterfox

Waterfox is an open-source web browser based on Mozilla Firefox source code and is specially built for a 64-bit operating system. It intends to be fast and focus on power users.

Waterfox features with an option to customize the browser interface like grouping similar tabs, choose a theme, and extend it the way you want to. It also allows you to modify the internal CSS and Javascript.

Waterfox Browser

13. Slimjet

Slimjet is a fastest web browser that is powered by industry-leading Blink engine and is created on top of the Chromium project, that comes with an added functionality and customization options that enables you to fine-tune your browser preferences that best suits your own specific needs.

Slimjet comes with numerous powerful and convenient features to guide you in maximizing your online productivity, which includes ad blocker, download manager, quick form filler, customizable toolbar, Facebook integration, Instagram photo upload, youtube video downloader, weather forecast, web page translation and many more.

Slimjet Web Browser

14. Min – A Fast, Minimal Browser

Min is a fast, minimal smarter web browser that safeguard your privacy. It includes an user-friendly interface designed to decrease distractions, and comes with the following notable features such as:

• Get quick information from DuckDuckGo in the search bar.
• Full-text search for visited pages.
• Automatic ad and tracker blocking.
• Reader view
• Tasks (tab groups)
• Dark theme

Min Web Browser for Linux

15. Dissenter

The Dissenter is an open source web browser that blocks advertisements and trackers by default and improve your browsing experience faster and more secure. Dissenter also offers a feature called Comment Badge, that enables users to comment on all web sites, view comments posted by other users and have conversation with other users in real time.

Dissenter Web Browser

16. Links

Links is an Open source text and a graphical web browser that is written in C and available for Windows, Linux, OS X, and OS/2, Open VMS and DOS systems. It is released under GPLv2+ License. It is one of those browsers which has many forks based upon it including Elinks (Experimental/Enhanced Links), Hacked Links, etc.

This is an ideal browser for those who want to experience GUI elements in a text-only environment. Links 2 being the latest version was released in September 2015 and it is an advanced version of Links that supports JavaScript which results in a much fast web browser.

The main highlight feature of Links is that it can run in graphics mode even for those systems which do not have X Server because of its support for Graphic drivers for X Server, Linux Framebuffer, svgalib, OS/2 PMShell, and Atheos GUI.

Links Browser

Conclusion

These were some of the Open Source Browsers available on Linux. If you have some personal favorites, do mention them in your comments and we would include them in our list too.

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