Stop paying Brave to strip features—here’s the open-source browser I switched to

Why I finally walked away from Brave

For a long time, Brave was my daily driver. It blocked ads, respected privacy, and felt fast. But over the past year, something shifted. Brave started moving useful features behind a subscription paywall. Want VPN? That’s extra. Firewall + VPN? Pay up. Even some privacy tools that were once free now require a Brave Premium subscription.

I get it — companies need revenue. But when a browser starts charging for basic functionality, it’s time to look elsewhere. So I did. And I found an open-source browser that not only matches Brave’s speed and privacy but gives me everything Brave now charges for — for free.

What Brave took away — and what you’re now paying for

Brave’s business model has evolved. The browser itself is still free, but the company has steadily walled off features that used to be included. Here’s a quick rundown of what you now have to subscribe to Brave Premium to get:

• Brave VPN — a paid add-on that routes your traffic through a private network.
• Brave Firewall + VPN — a combined security and privacy package, again behind a subscription.
• Brave Talk Premium — video calling with end-to-end encryption, but only for paying users.
• Brave Search (ad-free) — the default search engine is free, but removing ads costs you.
• Brave Wallet — a crypto wallet, though this one is still free (for now).

None of these are essential, but they were either free or cheaper elsewhere. The bigger issue? Brave’s core pitch — privacy without compromise — starts to ring hollow when you have to pay to get the full package.

The open-source browser I switched to (and why it’s better)

After testing several alternatives, I settled on Firefox. Yes, Firefox. It’s not new or flashy, but it’s been quietly improving. And because it’s built on an open-source engine (Gecko), it’s fully transparent. No hidden paywalls, no surprise subscriptions.

Here’s what Firefox offers that Brave now charges for:

• Built-in tracking protection — blocks ads and trackers by default. No subscription needed.
• Mozilla VPN — available as a separate paid service, but you can also use any third-party VPN. No lock-in.
• Firefox Relay — generates email aliases to hide your real inbox. Free tier is generous.
• Total Cookie Protection — isolates cookies per website, preventing cross-site tracking. Free and on by default.
• Open-source extensions — thousands of add-ons, many of which replicate Brave’s paid features for free.

Firefox also has a private browsing mode that doesn’t save history or cookies. It’s not quite the same as Brave’s Tor-based private windows, but for 99% of daily browsing, it’s more than enough.

Why Firefox beats Brave on privacy

Brave’s privacy features are real — I’m not denying that. But they come with a trade-off: Brave is built on Chromium, Google’s browser engine. That means it inherits some of Google’s code and, potentially, some of Google’s data-collection infrastructure. Firefox, by contrast, uses its own engine (Gecko), which is not beholden to Google’s ecosystem.

Mozilla is a non-profit foundation. Its revenue comes from search partnerships and donations, not from selling your data or charging for browser features. That’s a fundamentally different incentive structure.

What I miss from Brave — and what I don’t

I’ll be honest: leaving Brave wasn’t all roses. There are a few things I genuinely miss:

• Brave Rewards — earning BAT tokens for viewing privacy-respecting ads was a neat gimmick. But it never added up to much money, and the whole crypto angle felt increasingly irrelevant.
• Brave Shields — the per-site control panel for blocking ads, scripts, and fingerprinting is slick. Firefox has similar controls, but they’re buried in settings.
• Brave Sync — encrypted syncing across devices works well. Firefox Sync is equally good, but setting it up is slightly less intuitive.

On the flip side, I don’t miss:

• Brave’s crypto wallet — I never used it. It just cluttered the UI.
• Brave’s bloat — the browser comes with a lot of built-in features I never asked for. Firefox is leaner by default.
• The paywall anxiety — knowing that every update might move another feature behind a subscription is exhausting. Firefox is a one-time download, and that’s it.

How to make the switch yourself

If you’re ready to leave Brave behind, here’s a simple migration plan:

1. Export your bookmarks and passwords from Brave (Settings → Bookmarks → Export, and Settings → Passwords → Export).
2. Download Firefox from the official site. Install it.
3. Import your data — Firefox will offer to import bookmarks, passwords, and history from Brave during setup. Accept the offer.
4. Install essential extensions — uBlock Origin (ad blocking), Privacy Badger (tracker blocking), and HTTPS Everywhere (secure connections) replicate most of Brave Shields’ functionality.
5. Adjust privacy settings — go to Firefox Settings → Privacy & Security and set tracking protection to Strict. Enable DNS over HTTPS for encrypted lookups.

That’s it. You’re now running a fully open-source browser with no subscriptions, no hidden costs, and no crypto gimmicks. Your data stays yours.

Final verdict: is the switch worth it?

Brave is still a solid browser. If you’re happy paying for the premium features, by all means, stick with it. But if you’re tired of watching features disappear behind a paywall, the answer is clear: there are excellent open-source alternatives that give you everything you need without the monthly bill.

Firefox isn’t perfect — no browser is. But it’s transparent, it’s free, and it’s built by an organization that doesn’t treat your privacy as a product to be sold or a feature to be monetized. That alone makes it worth the switch.