Brave

Brave is a web browser built on Chromium. Because the engine is shared with Chrome, pages behave the same way and extensions from the Chrome Web Store generally install unchanged; what differs is the interface and the default behaviour.

Its distinguishing component is Shields, a blocking layer switched on by default that stops advertisements, third-party trackers and fingerprinting attempts, upgrades connections to HTTPS where a site offers it, and can be relaxed or turned off per site when a page stops working. Private windows can optionally route traffic through Tor, which hides the originating address from the site at the cost of speed and of some sites treating the connection as suspicious. A sidebar assistant called Leo answers questions about the page being viewed.

The browser also carries features unrelated to browsing: a cryptocurrency wallet and an opt-in advertising programme that pays viewers in a token. Both are separate from the blocking behaviour and can be ignored. Because Brave follows Chromium's release cycle, fixes made upstream reach it through its own updates.