Every European web browser reviewed
Gothenburg, Sweden
Free of charge, whether or not you are a Mullvad VPN customer; Mullvad states it earns no money from the browser
Free with no account
Best for: Desktop users who want anti-fingerprinting defaults from a founder-owned Swedish company at no cost
Mullvad Browser is a desktop browser built to reduce tracking and fingerprinting, developed by Mullvad VPN AB together with the Tor Project. Mullvad describes it as a Tor Browser without the Tor Network, intended to be used on its own or together with a VPN.
Mullvad Browser is based on Firefox ESR, ships with uBlock Origin, NoScript and the Mullvad Browser Extension, and runs in private mode by default so that no cookies are kept between sessions. Letterboxing rounds the window size to fixed steps, DuckDuckGo is the default search engine with suggestions off, and three security levels (Standard, Safer, Safest) progressively restrict JavaScript and other features.
Mullvad VPN AB gives Box 53049, 400 14 Gothenburg, Sweden as its address. Mullvad states that the company is a subsidiary of Amagicom AB and that both are 100 per cent owned by founders Fredrik Strömberg and Daniel Berntsson, which is the clearest ownership statement in this category.
The Mullvad Browser source is published under the Mozilla Public License 2.0 in Mullvad's repository and on the Tor Project's GitLab. Mullvad states that telemetry and crash reporting are disabled at compile time and answers the question of what the browser collects with a single word: none. Mullvad publishes no security certification for the browser.
Mullvad Browser is free of charge whether or not you are a Mullvad VPN customer, and Mullvad states that it earns nothing from the browser because its income comes from the VPN service. Downloads exist for Linux, macOS and Windows 10 or later in 64-bit.
Mullvad Browser suits people who want strong defaults without configuring anything and who accept logging in again after every restart. Mullvad Browser does not suit anyone who needs a phone browser, because Mullvad states that it is not available on smartphones, or who wants a persistent, synchronised profile across devices.
What Mullvad Browser does well
- Mullvad VPN AB and its parent Amagicom AB are stated to be 100 per cent owned by the two founders
- Source code published under the Mozilla Public License 2.0
- Telemetry and crash reporting are disabled at compile time, according to Mullvad
- Free for everyone, with or without a Mullvad VPN subscription
- uBlock Origin and NoScript preinstalled, with DNS over HTTPS set to Mullvad's own resolver
Where Mullvad Browser falls short
- Not available on smartphones, as Mullvad states itself
- Private mode by default means no cookies survive a restart, so every site asks for a login again
- The Windows build requires Windows 10 or later and 64-bit
- Mullvad earns no money from the browser, so its future depends on the VPN business that pays for it
Standout feature. Mullvad Browser pairs Tor Browser's fingerprinting protection with a stated owner: two founders in Gothenburg hold 100 per cent of the company, and the browser earns them nothing.
London, United Kingdom
Founded 2011
Free with no premium tier and no account; funded through search partnerships, optional Waterfox Private Search subscriptions and donations
Free with no account
Best for: People who want one independent, Firefox-compatible browser on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android
Waterfox is a free, open source browser built on Mozilla's Gecko engine, which is why Waterfox says most sites and extensions work as they do in Firefox.
Waterfox adds built-in ad blocking, private and anonymised DNS through Oblivious HTTP, tree tabs for hierarchical browsing, a status bar with URL preview and private tabs inside a normal window. Downloads cover Windows 10 or later on x64 and ARM64, macOS 10.15 or later and Linux, with package repositories for Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora and Mageia and an Android version on Google Play. Waterfox 6.7.5 was released on 30 September 2026.
BrowserWorks Ltd operates Waterfox from Suite 140, 372 Old Street, London EC1V 9AU, registered at Companies House under number 14843353 and with the ICO under ZC079925.
Waterfox states that Alex Kontos founded the project in 2011 and that, since returning to independent ownership in 2023, BrowserWorks Ltd is wholly owned by him. The terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, so Waterfox sits outside the EU. The source is published under MPL 2.0. Waterfox states that it has no telemetry, crash reporting, studies, Safe Browsing or download reputation checks, and that DNS queries are routed through Waterfox and Cloudflare.
Waterfox costs nothing, has no premium tier and needs no account. Waterfox states that it is funded through search partnerships, optional Waterfox Private Search subscriptions and donations, and that the search provider can be changed at any time.
Waterfox suits people who want Firefox extension compatibility, a single named owner and the same browser on a laptop and an Android phone. Waterfox is a weaker fit for an organisation with an EU-only rule, for iPhone users, since no iOS version is listed on the download page, and for anyone who relies on Safe Browsing warnings.
What Waterfox does well
- Builds for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android from the same publisher
- BrowserWorks Ltd states that it is wholly owned by founder Alex Kontos
- Published under the Mozilla Public Licence 2.0
- No telemetry and no analytics pipeline, according to the Waterfox privacy policy
- Registered address, Companies House number and ICO registration are all published
Where Waterfox falls short
- United Kingdom company under the laws of England and Wales, so outside the EU
- Funded partly by search partnerships with revenue-sharing search engines
- Ships without Safe Browsing and download reputation checks
- DNS queries are routed through Waterfox and Cloudflare, a further party in the chain
Standout feature. Waterfox is the one browser here that covers Windows, macOS, Linux and Android under a single owner, and BrowserWorks Ltd lists in writing every connection the browser still makes.
Berlin, Germany
Founded 2010
Free; the project site offers a donation option and no paid edition
Free with no account
Best for: Linux and KDE Plasma users who want a light browser governed by a German non-profit
Falkon is the web browser of the KDE community, built on QtWebEngine and described by KDE as integrated with the Plasma desktop.
Falkon started as QupZilla, first released in December 2010, and the Falkon site states that since version 3.0 new versions are released under the Falkon name as a KDE project. Falkon has an ad blocker enabled by default, a password manager, theming, extensions and a sidebar for bookmarks and history, and recent releases added vertical tabs and site settings. Falkon 26.08.1 was released on 10 September 2026 as part of KDE Gear.
The legal body behind KDE is KDE e.V., a registered non-profit association at Prinzenstraße 85 F, 10969 Berlin, entered in the register of associations at the Amtsgericht Berlin (Charlottenburg) under VR31685.
KDE e.V. describes itself as representing the KDE community in legal and financial matters; the code is written by community contributors rather than by employees of a vendor. Falkon is licensed GPL-3.0+ and the development repository is on KDE's own GitLab. The pages checked for Falkon contain no statement on telemetry or data collection, and no certification.
Falkon is free, with a donation option on the project site. The KDE applications page lists distribution packages, Flathub and the Snap Store for Linux, and only nightly installers for Windows; the Falkon download page lists nothing for Windows or macOS.
Falkon suits Linux users who want a small browser that matches a Plasma desktop and is governed by an association instead of a company. Falkon does not suit people on macOS or phones, or Windows users who want a supported stable installer.
What Falkon does well
- Licensed GPL-3.0+ with development on KDE's own GitLab
- Represented by KDE e.V., a registered non-profit association in Berlin
- Ad blocker enabled by default and a password manager included
- Installable from distribution packages, Flathub and the Snap Store
- Version 26.08.1 released on 10 September 2026 with KDE Gear
Where Falkon falls short
- For Windows the KDE applications page lists only nightly installers
- No macOS download and no mobile version on the Falkon download page
- Releases follow KDE Gear, which the Falkon site describes as typically three a year
- No telemetry or data collection statement on the Falkon pages checked
Standout feature. Falkon is the only browser here whose legal home is a registered non-profit association, KDE e.V. in Berlin, and its GPL-3.0+ code lives on infrastructure the community runs itself.
Limassol, Cyprus
Founded 2015
Free version with the core privacy features; Aloha Premium is a subscription whose price is not published on the website
Free version without registration; one-week free trial of Premium
Best for: Phone users who want a built-in VPN and ad blocker from a Cyprus company
Aloha Browser is a privacy-oriented browser for iOS, Android and desktop with a VPN, an ad blocker and tracking protection built in instead of added as extensions. Aloha also includes a file manager with password protection, page translation, biometric locking and a privacy report.
The browser engine is Aloha Core, a fork of Chromium with an ad-filtering component, which Aloha publishes on GitHub under the BSD-3-Clause licence. Aloha Browser is the only entry in this list with an iOS app, and the company also sells a white-label browser and a VPN SDK to businesses.
Aloha Mobile Ltd is registered in Cyprus under number HE352095 at 84 Spyrou Kyprianou, 4004 Limassol, and its terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Cyprus.
The company page says Aloha was established in 2015 and names Andrew Frost as founder; it does not say who owns the company. Aloha's privacy policy states that no registration is needed, that IP addresses are not recorded, that visited URLs are not recorded and that VPN servers store no access logs. Aloha states on its homepage that its privacy policy is regularly audited by Leviathan Security Group.
Aloha Browser has a free version with the core privacy features and a Premium subscription that adds more than 80 VPN locations, a kill switch, phone-wide VPN protection and extra file management.
A one-week free trial of Premium is offered; the price is not shown on the Aloha website. Aloha states that it earns commission from sponsored and affiliate links. Aloha Browser suits iPhone and Android users who want a VPN inside the browser. Aloha Browser is less suited to people who want a fully open source browser or a product without advertising partners.
What Aloha Browser does well
- Available for iOS, Android and desktop, with the only iOS app in this list
- VPN, ad blocker and tracking protection are built in
- Aloha Core, the Chromium-based engine, is published under BSD-3-Clause
- Cyprus registration number and Limassol address are published in the terms
- No registration needed for basic use, according to the privacy policy
Where Aloha Browser falls short
- The Premium subscription price is not published on the Aloha website
- Aloha earns commission from sponsored and affiliate links with partners such as Booking.com and eBay
- The company page does not state who owns Aloha Mobile Ltd
- Aloha's terms state that paid fees are non-refundable
Standout feature. Aloha Browser puts a VPN, an ad blocker and a file manager into one phone app, from a Limassol company that publishes its Chromium fork on GitHub.
Berlin, Germany
Free
Free with no account
Best for: Linux users who want web browsing and file management in a single KDE application
Konqueror is KDE's combined web browser and file manager, which KDE calls a swiss-army-knife for file management and file previewing. Web pages are rendered with Qt WebEngine.
Beyond browsing, Konqueror opens FTP and SFTP servers, offers a split view, and embeds other KDE components to preview documents, images and text files inside the same window. Plugins extend Konqueror through service menus, KParts, KIO protocols and ad blockers. The KDE applications page lists Konqueror 26.08.1, released on 10 September 2026, and the Konqueror handbook carries a program copyright running from 1999 onwards.
Konqueror is developed by the KDE community, whose legal representative is KDE e.V., a registered non-profit association at Prinzenstraße 85 F in Berlin with register number VR31685.
The Konqueror handbook states that the program is licensed under the GNU General Public License and the documentation under the GNU Free Documentation License; the handbook page does not give a licence version. The source is hosted on KDE's GitLab under the network group. The pages checked for Konqueror contain no statement about telemetry, and no certification is named.
Konqueror is free. The KDE applications page lists installation on Linux through Discover, distribution package managers and the Snap Store, and names no Windows, macOS or mobile build.
Konqueror suits Linux users who like to browse a website, an SFTP server and a local folder in neighbouring tabs of one program. Konqueror is not the right choice for people who want a browser that does only browsing, or for any device that does not run Linux; Falkon is the leaner KDE option for the same desktop.
What Konqueror does well
- Browser and file manager in one application, with FTP and SFTP access
- Licensed under the GNU General Public License, per the Konqueror handbook
- Backed by KDE e.V., a registered non-profit association in Berlin
- Plugin system covering KParts, KIO protocols, service menus and ad blockers
- Version 26.08.1 released on 10 September 2026
Where Konqueror falls short
- The KDE applications page lists Linux installation only
- The handbook page does not name the version of the GNU General Public License
- No mobile version is listed
- No telemetry or data collection statement on the Konqueror pages checked
Standout feature. Konqueror treats a website, an SFTP server and a local folder as the same kind of thing, which no other browser in this list attempts.
Cologne, Germany
Free; published as source code
Free with no account
Best for: Packagers and administrators who want an auditable Chromium build without Google account features
Iridium Browser is a browser based on the Chromium code base, changed so that partial queries, keywords and metrics are not sent to central services without consent.
Iridium states that Google sign-in and sync are blocked on purpose, that Qwant has been the default search engine since 2015, and that the browser never updates itself because that would mean calling home. All changes are visible in a public Git repository and Iridium describes its builds as reproducible. Version 2026.08.151.2, based on Chromium 151.0.7922.137, was published as source code on 13 August 2026.
Iridium Browser is a project of Red Cool Beans UG, whose legal notice gives Rönsahler Str. 27, 51069 Cologne, Germany. Iridium's FAQ says the company has no connection to search engines or large technology corporations.
Iridium has no single licence of its own: the FAQ explains that Chromium consists of many parts, each with its own licence, viewable at chrome://credits. Google Safe Browsing remains enabled by default and can be disabled. Iridium names no certification and does not describe how the project is funded on the pages checked.
Iridium Browser is free. The Iridium homepage states that the browser is only available as source code tarballs and encourages maintainers to build their own packages, while the FAQ still mentions installers and portable versions, so the two pages disagree.
The FAQ also warns that the extensions panel does not fully work. Iridium Browser suits administrators and distribution packagers who can build and update Chromium themselves. Iridium Browser does not suit ordinary users who expect a download button and automatic updates, and Iridium states that it is not available for Android or iOS.
What Iridium Browser does well
- Full source in a public Git repository, with builds described as reproducible
- Google sign-in and sync are blocked by design
- Qwant, a European search engine, has been the default since 2015
- Red Cool Beans UG publishes a German legal notice with a Cologne address
- Release of 13 August 2026 is based on Chromium 151
Where Iridium Browser falls short
- The homepage states that Iridium is only available as source code tarballs
- No automatic updates; users check the version and update by hand
- The FAQ says the extensions panel does not fully work and extensions need manual updates
- Not available for Android, iOS or any other mobile system
Standout feature. Iridium Browser refuses to call home even for its own updates, which makes every connection auditable and leaves building and patching entirely to the person installing it.
