Chrome VS Firefox. What makes them different?
The so-called browser wars ended in 2017 with Google Chrome’s landslide victory over all of its competitors. Chrome’s worldwide usage share now exceeds 60%. Still, many other browsers are afloat today and some of them retain a visible market share. One example is Mozilla Firefox, which is popular among 4% of users. Here are some of the conceptual and technical similarities and differences between Chrome and Firefox.
Codebase
While Chrome itself is not open-source, it’s based on Chro>mium, a huge open-source project that supplies source code for many browsers, including Sidekick.
Firefox is using its own Quantum/Gecko engine. It’s one of the last major browsers that doesn’t use Chromium, a rare alternative to the near-monopoly of Google.
Search engine
Naturally, Chrome is using Google search. This browser is deep into Google’s data harvesting and user tracking practice.
Sadly, Firefox has to rely on Google’s search as well. Google is the default search engine for Firefox in most parts of the world.
Security
Chrome is good in protecting users from external threats. Numerous security features including site isolation and sandboxing help divert malware.
Firefox rivals Chrome in terms of security. It alerts you if your email was included in a data breach. In 2019, German cyber police praised Firefox as most secure
Memory/Battery use
Chrome is pretty RAM-hungry, specially when many tabs are open.
Notebook users should remember that Firefox is not a battery saver.
Security
Chrome is good in protecting users from external threats. Numerous security features including site isolation and sandboxing help divert malware.
Firefox rivals Chrome in terms of security. It alerts you if your email was included in a data breach. In 2019, German cyber police praised Firefox as most secure
Memory/Battery use
Chrome is pretty RAM-hungry, specially when many tabs are open.
Notebook users should remember that Firefox is not a battery saver.
User experience
Chrome interface is intuitive and clean. Extra advantage is browser’s integration with Google’s ecosystem.
Mozilla’s interface is more customizable, advanced users will love it.
Extensions
With around 200,000 extensions available, Chrome is number 1 in terms of add-on diversity.
Mozilla helped pioneer the concept of browser extensions. Many Chrome add-ons are compatible with Firefox.
Revenue model
Google is monetizing users’ attention by selling your browsing data to advertisers.
Firefox has a similar advertising royalty-based business model for its in-built search engine.
Speed
Google boasts that its latest Chrome version is the fastest among all browsers.
Different tests show Firefox browser is 10-25% slower than Chrome.
Privacy
Forget about privacy. Chrome keeps track of your online habits and helps advertisers understand them. No default adblocking.
For those who want greater privacy. Firefox adblock works by default. This browser’s incognito mode has top marks but reliance on Google search is still a concern.