Brave Browser Review 2026: Shields, Price, Privacy

Brave at a glance

Brave is a free web browser for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iPhone. On desktop and Android it is built on the open source Chromium engine, and on iOS it uses Apple's WebKit ^[1]. Its main selling point is Brave Shields, a built in blocker for ads, trackers, cross-site cookies and fingerprinting that is switched on by default ^[1][8].

The version on the vendor's release page on 2026-10-10 was 1.97.56, published on 7 October 2026 and based on Chromium 155 ^[4]. The company behind it, Brave Software, says more than 120 million people use the browser every month ^[1]. That is a long way from the newcomer we described in our first review.

• Best for: people who want Chrome style speed and extension support with tracker and ad blocking switched on from the first minute.
• Platforms: Windows 10 or later, macOS Ventura 13 or later, 64-bit Linux, Android 10 or later and iOS 18 or later ^[7].
• Price: the browser is free. Brave VPN costs $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, with a 7 day free trial ^[3].
• Independent tests: we found no AV-TEST, AV-Comparatives or SE Labs result for Brave. Privacy Guides lists it among its recommended desktop browsers, with warnings about some extras ^[10].
• Latest version we saw: 1.97.56 on Chromium 155, released 7 October 2026 ^[4].

How we reviewed Brave and how we earn money

We first wrote about Brave in 2018, when it was a young browser with a handful of features. This page replaces that review. We checked every fact against the vendor's own pages, its public release page and its help center ^{[1][2][4][6][7]}, and we read the privacy policy for the browser ^[5].

We did not run new speed or blocking tests for this update, and we say so wherever a number comes from the vendor. The screenshot above is a vendor image, because it shows the current interface better than our old screenshots.

2-spyware.com earns a commission only from partner products such as the Fortect offer mentioned on this site. We have no deal with Brave Software, this review carries no affiliate link to Brave, and we earn nothing if you install Brave after reading it. This review contains no download link on purpose. If you want the browser, go to the vendor's own site.

What changed since our old review

Our 2018 review described Brave as a new browser from Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy. The founders are the same today: Eich is the chief executive and Bondy the chief technology officer ^[1]. Several other things in the old text are still true, and many are not.

What is still true

• Brave is built on Chromium and blocks ads and trackers by default ^[1].
• It still supports Tor based private windows, which the vendor describes as private windows with Tor connectivity ^[1].
• It still works with extensions from the Chrome Web Store ^[1].
• It still targets the same idea: block the ads and trackers that slow pages down and follow you around ^[1].

What is different now

• The old review listed Windows, Linux, OS X and Android. Today there is also an iOS version, and Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 are no longer supported ^[6][7].
• The old text quoted tests that showed pages loading 2 to 8 times faster than in Chrome. The vendor now says sites load 3x to 6x faster, but this is the vendor's own claim and we did not re-measure it ^[1].
• The old review spoke of micropayments for publishers. That idea became Brave Rewards, where you can opt in to private ads and earn Basic Attention Token ^[1].
• The company now sells more than a browser. It also runs Brave Search, an AI assistant called Leo, a VPN, video calls and a crypto wallet ^[1].
• We have dropped the old list of private tab details, such as script blocking in the private tab. Open the Private window settings in the app to see how it works in the current version.

Who makes Brave and what the company sells

Brave was co-founded in 2015 by Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript and a co-founder of Mozilla, and Brian Bondy, who also worked at Mozilla ^[1]. The company has offices in San Francisco and London, and its headquarters address is 48 2nd St, Floor 3, San Francisco ^[1].

The vendor says it has four main lines of business: Brave Ads, the Brave Search API, Brave Premium and Brave Wallet swaps with Web3 partnerships ^[1]. This matters for you because a free browser has to be paid for somehow. Here the money comes from private ads that you can opt into, from paid add-ons such as the VPN, from API customers, and from a 1 percent fee on some crypto purchases made in the wallet ^[1].

Brave says the ads in its network are shown only if you opt in, and that Brave does not have access to your browsing history or any details that can identify you ^[5]. You can ignore Brave Rewards completely and still use the browser as a normal free browser.

Editions and current version

There is one consumer browser, available in a Release build, a Beta build and a Nightly build. New features usually appear in Nightly first, then move to Beta, and finally to the Release build ^[2]. For daily use you want Release. The help center also lists Dev builds for Windows and macOS ^[2][6].

The version on the GitHub release page on 2026-10-10 was 1.97.56, built on Chromium 155.0.8059.40 ^[4]. Brave updates itself in the background. To check what you have, open the menu, choose About Brave and let the page look for an update. The vendor's help center has a separate article on updating, and one on why automatic updates can fail on Windows ^[6].

The Chromium base is the reason Brave works with most sites and with many Chrome extensions. The vendor says it removes privacy-harmful Chromium features and disables or proxies connections to Google when possible ^[1]. It also publishes a list of these differences on GitHub ^[1].

Features checked against the vendor's pages

Below is what the vendor says each feature does, with our notes on what it means in daily use ^[1]. We did not lab test the features, so the notes rest on the vendor's description, the privacy policy and how this type of feature works.

Brave Shields

Shields is the core of the browser. It blocks third-party ads and trackers, cross-site cookies, fingerprinting, phishing and malware attempts, and more, with no extension needed ^[1][8]. It runs on every site by default and you can turn it off for a single site with the lion icon in the address bar.

There are two blocking levels. Standard is the default. Aggressive applies even more filtering, and the vendor warns that it increases the risk of breaking sites ^[8][9]. In Standard mode the filter lists apply to third-party requests. In Aggressive mode they apply to first-party requests too ^[9].

Fingerprinting is handled differently. Instead of only blocking scripts, Brave randomizes the data points that sites read, such as graphics and audio hardware details, so a site cannot recognize you from one visit to the next ^[8]. This is on by default.

If a page looks broken, click the lion icon, then lower the Shields level for that site. That is usually the fastest fix, and it does not change the protection on other sites.

Private windows with Tor

Brave offers private windows with Tor onion routing, which proxy your IP address through the Tor network ^[1]. This is more private than a normal private window, but it is not the Tor Browser. It does not give you the same fingerprint uniformity that the Tor Browser aims for. If your safety depends on staying anonymous, use the Tor Browser from the Tor Project.

Leo AI assistant

Leo is an AI assistant inside the browser. The vendor says it can answer questions, summarize pages and PDFs, translate text and suggest code ^[1]. It says Leo's models do not retain or share chats or use them for training, and that no account is needed ^[1]. It offers several models, including models from Anthropic and Meta, and you can connect your own ^[1].

There is also a Premium tier with higher rate limits and more models ^[1]. We did not find a Leo Premium price on the Leo page on the date we checked, so look at the price in the app before you subscribe. If you do not want an AI assistant, you can ignore it.

Brave VPN

Brave VPN is sold as a separate subscription and works inside the browser. The vendor lists $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, up to 10 devices, and Android, iOS, macOS and Windows ^[3]. A 7 day free trial is offered, and the page says you can cancel free of charge at any point during the trial ^[3]. The VPN is powered by an independently audited partner called Guardian ^[1].

Sync, Speedreader and tab tools

Sync lets you copy bookmarks, passwords and tabs between devices. If you enable it, the data is stored in an encrypted file with a cloud provider, and only you hold the decryption key, so Brave cannot recover it if you lose your device and your keys ^[5]. Speedreader is a reader mode that strips clutter from pages ^[1].

Other tools listed by the vendor are a sidebar, vertical tabs, split view for two sites side by side, built-in translation and Containers, which isolate cookies and storage for a single tab ^[1]. These are useful if you work with many tabs, and they are all free.

Rewards, News, Talk and Wallet

Brave Rewards lets you opt in to private ads and earn Basic Attention Token, which you can send to creators ^[1]. Brave News is a private news feed on the new tab page. Brave Talk is a free video calling service that needs no account ^[1]. Brave Wallet is a crypto wallet built into the browser ^[1].

Privacy Guides discourages Brave Rewards, because it relies on a custodial account and identity checks with a small number of providers. It also discourages Brave Wallet, because the wallet does not support any private cryptocurrencies ^[10]. You do not need either one, and you can hide the Rewards button and the Wallet button from the toolbar in Settings.

Independent tests and outside opinions

This is the part of the review where a browser differs from a security program. We found no AV-TEST, AV-Comparatives or SE Labs result for Brave. We also found no public independent audit report that we could cite for the current version. Most of what we can say about blocking and speed comes from Brave itself ^[1][8].

The best outside opinion we could cite is Privacy Guides, a volunteer privacy project that lists Brave among the browsers it currently recommends for desktop use ^[10]. The same page warns against two optional extras, Brave Rewards and Brave Wallet ^[10]. We read this as a mixed but useful sign: the browser is accepted, and the extras are optional.

The vendor's own comparison pages set Brave against Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari and the DuckDuckGo browser ^[1]. Treat them as marketing. If speed matters to you, install two browsers and time the pages you visit every day. If you want a plain alternative from our own archive, read our Chromium review and our browser guides.

Privacy

The browser privacy policy was last updated on 23 September 2026 ^[5]. Its main statement is that Brave does not collect or retain a user's browsing history ^[5]. The browser checks for updates automatically, and Brave says it counts these requests only to produce aggregate statistics from which no particular person can be identified ^[5].

If you enable Brave Rewards, the browser is assigned a Rewards Payment ID, and you are asked to choose a country ^[5]. The policy says that even then Brave does not collect your browsing history, and that it cannot tell which specific ads you have seen ^[5]. Some features need transient network identifiers such as IP addresses to work, and the policy lists which ones ^[5].

The policy runs to about 6,000 words, so it is not short. That is normal for a browser that bundles search, a VPN, a wallet and ads. Read the sections for the features you actually switch on, and turn off the features you do not need in Settings.

Brave Search is a separate product with a separate policy. The vendor says it does not profile users and that it runs on its own independent web index ^[1]. If you want the browser without the search engine, you can change the default search engine in Settings.

Prices, renewal and refunds

The Brave browser is free, and on 2026-10-10 the vendor's pages showed no price for it ^[1][2]. The only prices we saw were for Brave VPN: $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, covering up to 10 devices ^[3].

The VPN page offers a 7 day free trial and says you can cancel free of charge during the trial ^[3]. It does not state a refund policy on that page, and it does not say what the price is after any promotional period. Check the price and the renewal terms in the checkout screen before you pay, and keep the confirmation email.

The vendor says Leo Premium, Search Premium and Talk Premium are paid add-ons that add extra features to otherwise free tools ^[1]. We did not see their prices on the pages we checked. The company says that purchase details, such as the email address you used to sign up for Leo Premium, cannot be linked to your day to day use of Leo ^[1].

• Brave browser: free, all platforms.
• Brave VPN: $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, up to 10 devices, 7 day free trial ^[3].
• Leo Premium, Search Premium and Talk Premium: paid, price shown on the vendor's site and in the app ^[1].
• Refund: not stated on the VPN page we read; check the checkout screen ^[3].

Installation and system requirements

The vendor lists these minimums: Windows 10 or later with an ARM64 or a 64-bit Intel or AMD processor, and macOS Ventura 13 or later ^[7]. On Linux it names 64-bit Ubuntu 18.04, Mint 19, Debian 10, openSUSE 15, Fedora 28 and Rocky 9 or newer. Android needs version 10 and iOS needs version 18 ^[7]. Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 are no longer supported ^[6].

1. Open the vendor's own site, brave.com, in your current browser. Do not use download portals or search ads that only look like the vendor.
2. Run the installer and accept the Windows prompt if one appears. The vendor says the whole process takes about 60 seconds ^[2].
3. When the install finishes, Brave offers to import your bookmarks, saved passwords and extensions from your old browser ^[1][2].
4. Open Settings, then Shields, and look at the default level. Leave it on Standard unless you want to fight with broken pages.
5. Open Settings and decide whether you want Rewards, Wallet, Leo and News. Each one can be hidden.

On mobile, get Brave from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store, which the vendor links from its download page ^[2]. Do not install an APK from a random site.

How to uninstall Brave

The vendor's help center describes the steps ^[6].

Windows

1. In the Windows search bar, search for and open Add or Remove programs.
2. Find Brave in the list and select Uninstall. If you use the Beta, Dev or Nightly build, select that specific version ^[6].
3. Before the uninstall starts, Brave asks whether to delete the other data linked to the browser. If you tick the box, all Brave data is wiped from the PC, and a later reinstall starts from scratch. If you leave it unticked, your data stays ^[6].
4. Click Uninstall. For general help with removing programs, see our guide on how to uninstall a program in Windows.

macOS and Linux

On a Mac, trash the Brave app from the Applications folder. To remove the profile data too, open your user Library folder, go to Application Support and trash the BraveSoftware folder. This wipes all Brave data ^[6]. On Linux, use your package manager, for example sudo apt remove brave-browser brave-keyring on Debian, Ubuntu and Mint ^[6].

On Android and iPhone, uninstalling the app deletes its data. When you reinstall, you get a fresh browser ^[6]. If you pay for the VPN, remember that removing the app does not cancel a subscription made through the app store, so cancel the plan in your store account as well.

Pros and cons

What Brave does well

• Shields blocks ads, trackers, cross-site cookies and fingerprinting by default, with no extension ^[1][8].
• Works with extensions from the Chrome Web Store ^[1].
• Free on every platform, with no ads forced on you and no account needed for the basics ^[1][2].
• The vendor says it does not collect or keep browsing history ^[5].
• Encrypted sync that Brave cannot read ^[5].
• Fast release cycle, with version 1.97.56 shipping on Chromium 155 only days before our check ^[4].
• Listed by Privacy Guides among recommended desktop browsers ^[10].

Where it falls short

• No independent lab results for blocking or speed that we could find, so the performance claims are the vendor's ^[1].
• Crypto, Rewards, VPN and AI features add clutter that some people do not want, and Privacy Guides discourages Rewards and Wallet ^[10].
• The privacy policy is long and covers many separate services ^[5].
• Aggressive Shields can break sites ^[8].
• Prices for Leo, Search and Talk Premium were not visible on the pages we read ^[1].
• Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 are no longer supported ^[6].

Alternatives

If you want a closer look at the engine underneath, read our Chromium review. Our browsers page lists more choices and settings guides. If you only want a VPN, our CyberGhost review covers a stand-alone VPN with its own prices and refund terms.

A browser does not replace an antivirus. Windows already includes Microsoft Defender; see our Windows Defender review. If a browser keeps showing pop-ups or has a changed home page, you may have adware. Start with our adware guide, and use our link and file check before you open a suspicious link.

If your PC is slow or Windows files are damaged after an infection, a repair tool may fit better than a new browser. Fortect scans for damaged system files and junk and repairs them; our Fortect review explains what is free and what the licence costs. You can also browse all our software reviews.

Verdict

Brave has grown from the young browser we described in 2018 into a full privacy product with a search engine, an AI assistant and a VPN. The core is still what matters: a Chromium browser that blocks ads, trackers and fingerprinting by default, works with Chrome extensions and costs nothing.

The weak points are proof and clutter. There are no independent lab numbers we could cite, so speed and blocking claims rest on the vendor. The optional crypto and ad features are not for everyone. We score Brave 8.1 out of 10. Install it from the vendor's site, keep Shields on Standard, hide the extras you do not need, and check the price before you pay for any add-on.