If like me you’re tired of being bombarded with ads each time you open a new tab, it’s time to switch to Brave.
Brave is a privacy web browser with over 50 million users, including myself, and probably you when you’re done reading this.
It's a web browser that protects your privacy, helps save time and data, and rewards you for having 20+ tabs opened at once (we all do that, right?! 😄).
I've personally been using Brave for over a year now, and it completely changed the way I browse the web. Especially on my phone.
So if you've never heard about Brave before, or you're looking for an alternative to Chrome and you're still hesitating to press the download button, here's why you should consider making the switch.
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What is Brave browser?
Before I share with you my favorite reasons to switch to Brave, let me give you a quick breakdown about what is Brave.
In short, Brave is a web browser based on Chromium open-source code, like other popular browsers such as Google Chrome, Opera, or Microsoft Edge.
So on top of being super secure, fast, and private, it also works exactly like the browser you’re probably using.
But why does Brave claim to fix the web?
The front page of their website says we're constantly bombarded by ads online and browsers track everything we do online.
And I think we’ve all noticed it!
Their solution is to offer a browser that focuses on privacy and give more control to the user regarding the ads and trackers they allow.
Brave is also paying us, the users, to browse the web.
They even have a way to support publishers with the Brave rewards program that allows you to split your reward between the websites you visit the most.
You can even tip the websites you visit directly in Brave to support their work.
Now if that's not enough to convince you to make the switch, or if you need more to push you to click the download button, here are 7 reasons to start using Brave today.
No ads
I would imagine most of us are using a type of Adblock these days.
And that's one of the reasons my blog is only making a few dollars a month from display ads and not hundreds of dollars.
Don’t worry, that's fair. I use Adblock too.
Because honestly, most websites push it too far with ads.
But using Adblocks means you need to have an extra extension in your browser, and most of the time, it doesn't work correctly on mobile.
That's where Brave Browser comes to the rescue.
Brave has a built-in "shield" that stops ads AND trackers.
Take The New York Time website. Brave Shield bocks 19 ads and trackers!
You don't need to add an extra extension or to even think about it.
With Brave, ads and trackers are by default turned off. That means you can visit your favorite websites without being blasted by ads.
This feature alone is probably the main reason to use Brave and why so many people including myself already made the jump.
And that's before you even consider how much time and money it's saving you.
👆 you wouldn't see this ad if you were using Brave
Privacy
If you value your privacy and you don't want big search engines and tech companies to know absolutely everything you're doing online, here's another reason to use Brave.
When Brave shield is up, it blocks trackers, scripts, and cross-site cookies, making it more difficult for tech giants and advertisers to know what you're doing online.
Of course, that means some websites might not work as intended or make it impossible to use some features.
But that's not a problem as Brave makes it super easy to turn the shield off and to let you pick in the settings which trackers and cookies you want to allow.
Here’s what The New York Time website looks like with Brave Shield turned off.
So you can see it as a flexible protection that allows you to choose the websites and extensions that can track you.
And block everything else.
It saves data
Another benefit to using Brave, especially on mobile, is it saves (a lot of) data.
All these ads, scripts, cookies, and trackers that Brave is not loading thanks to its shield; it saves a lot of data over time.
It might not be a big deal when you’re using it on your laptop, from home, and you're connected to your wifi.
But if you have a data plan for mobile internet, you're gonna be happy about that.
For example, since I switched to Brave on my Google Pixel 3XL, it allowed me to change my data plan from 10 to 6GB and save about $5 per month (I spend way too much time reading stuff online on my phone).
And data is not the only thing you save when using Brave. You also save time!
It's Faster
For the same reasons mentioned above, Brave shield is also helping you save time.
All the time other web browsers spend loading ads and trackers, Brave saves it.
And you don't realize how much time that is until you start to use it on your phone.
In 1 year, on my laptop alone, Brave estimates I saved over 5 hours!
That's 5 hours I would have spent staring at a white screen while I wait for a page full of ads to load.
It's hard to realize how much time we’re wasting with these kinds of things until a game-changer like Brave comes along.
It's Based On Chromium
If like me you've been using Chrome as your main browser and it's stuffed with useful extensions, I've got another good news for you: Brave is based on Chromium too!
Just like Google Chrome browser.
To keep it short and simple, Chromium web browser is an open-source project on which Chrome, Brave, Microsoft Edge, Opera and other browsers are all built-on.
For this reason you can use the same extensions in Brave as you would in Chrome.
That means you don't need to change your routine and habits. That’s another reason why it’s super easy to make the switch.
Brave Rewards and BAT (Basic Attention Token)
So I said Brave block ads, right?
Well, you can if you want to, but Brave gives you another option: Getting paid for the ads you see.
You can turn off the shield partially and allow Brave to display ads.
But the big difference with other browsers is it displays ads based on your history on Brave and not based on your activity across all the websites or apps you've used, like Google or Facebook do.
And at no point does your data from Brave leave the browser. It's all anonymized and kept on your device.
In exchange, Brave gives you a percentage of what they get paid to show you the ad.
Yes, that's right, you get paid for browsing the web! 🤑
To use my last year as an example, as someone who spends a lot of time online and Brave for work, I make between 3 and $8 a month (when combining my mobile and desktop use).
That's not a lot, and I believe most people will only make a few dollars a year. But that's a lot better than 0.
The only thing is Brave doesn't pay you right away in USD.
Brave Rewards pays you with BAT, which stands for Basic Attention Token.
BAT can be exchanged for other cryptos like XRP or to USD on exchanges like Uphold or Gemini.
Or the other option is to HODL your BAT to the moon (let see who else has diamond hands 🤲💎).
Because BAT has value. And this value is increasing with the new crypto trend.
If you look at BAT on coinmarketcap, you can see it went up significantly since January 2021.
And I believe it will keep going up in value as more people get into crypto, and of course, as more people use Brave.
You probably understand where I'm going there and why I'm writing this post.
The more people use Brave, the more BAT is going up in value, and the more people get paid for ads they see on the web.
That's a win-win for everyone (even for advertisers).
Support Creators And Publishers
Love what you're reading?
With Brave, you can support creators and publishers like me by tipping them with BAT.
It's simple, fast, and totally free for you as it's using BAT you earned from seeing ads on Brave.
Brave offers two ways to support creators.
You can tip a website by clicking on the reward icon and "Send a tip ." You can even set a recurring contribution to a website each month.
Or you can go to the reward settings and turn on "Auto Contribute" to have Brave spreading automatically the BAT you earned to the sites you visited.
It's an interesting way to support bloggers, magazines, and journalism without spending any money. Or having to watch a ton of ads.
And it's better than not supporting them at all when we use an Ad Blocker.
Crypto Wallet, IFPS, Tor, etc...
There are many other reasons that make Brave interesting, like their built-in crypto wallet, the IFPS system they use to help with privacy, their functionality to use Tor Browser with no add-on, etc...
But I feel like most users won't care about that.
So I let you do your research and try all the functionalities of Brave Browser by yourself.
Here’s a link to learn more about Brave and try it yourself (and for once that’s not an affiliate link 😄).
Now tell me, have you tried Brave? Are you using it right now? Did I convince you to give it a try?
Let me know in the comments below.
Is Brave A Good Alternative To Chrome?
Brave is in fact the perfect alternative to Chrome.
Like Google Chrome browser it is based on Chromium open-source code and has access to the same extensions.
Even better, Brave is faster, offers better privacy, and even rewards you for the ads you see, if you decide to see them.
Not that Chrome is all bad or that Brave is perfect, but it's the best alternative to Google Chrome for those like me who want to control what websites track, reduce the number of ads they see and keep enjoying Chrome-based extensions.
It's a no-brainer if you want to get away from Chrome in minutes, save time, data, and make money online (enough for a few mojitos at least).
FAQ
Brave browser is completely safe. As it's based on the chromium open-source code, blocks trackers and ads, it might be even safer than most web browsers out there.
Brave browser is free but the company makes money from ads displayed to users who deactivated their "shield" (Brave tracker and ad blocker). Not only do they make money from ads, but you do too. Brave gets paid by the advertiser and shares the revenue with you in BAT (Basic Attention Token).
Go to this page to download Brave for Mac, Windows, Android or iOS and follow the instructions to install it.
Brave browser is owned by Brave Software, Inc. The company was founded by Brendan Eich (creator of Javascript and co-founder of Mozilla Corporation) and Brian Bondy. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Have you tried Brave? Are you thinking about switching?
Do you have any questions?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
I absolutely second this opinion! I have been using Brave since more than two years now, on both my notebook and my mobile phone, and find it very fast, highly compatible, and I like their Brave Rewards thing to reward publishers!
I do not like Google Chrome’s “phone home” at all! Brave doesn’t have such.
I never thought about leaving Chrome until I heard about Brave and after a few months I’m completely sold. I hope you’ve been holding to your BAT if you’ve been using Brave for years. As Brave Browser get bigger and when they officially launch Brave Search (it’s in beta atm), they could be worth gold.