Selecting a Browser

I’ve been testing browsers since 2016. Now I combine all my findings to select my own browser. Updated in January 2025.

Mac Browsers

Introduction
Scores from Benchmark Tests
Failures during Benchmark Tests
Subjective Factors
Winner

iOS Browsers

Introduction
Data
Winner

MAC BROWSERS

Introduction

January 20, 2025

I’ve been testing browsers on Mac since 2016. My testing spans two major areas:

Industry-standard Benchmark tests

Real-life testing during my work as a Developer

Here are my findings thus far:

Scores from Benchmark Tests
Most Recent	Brave	*Chrome*	DuckDuckGo	Edge	Firefox	Safari
HTML5 test	581	581	548	n/a	546	555
JavaScript test	330	330	325	n/a	227	342
Speed test	25.3	28.9	26.4	n/a	28.3	26.8
Ranking	Second	WINNER	Second	Fail	Fail	Second
Failures during Benchmark Tests
Since 2023	Brave	Chrome	DuckDuckGo	Edge	Firefox	Safari
HTML5 test	Three	One	One	n/a	Zero	Zero
JavaScript test	Two	One	Two	n/a	One	Zero
Speed test	Two	One	One	n/a	Zero	Zero
Ranking	Fail	Third	Fail	Fail	Second	WINNER
Subjective Factors
	Brave	Chrome	DuckDuckGo	Edge	Firefox	*Safari*
Updates	Non-Consentual	Non-Consentual	Concerning	Non-Consentual	Concerning	Consentual
Legibility	Legible	Legible	Illegible Slop	Illegible Slop	Illegible Slop	Legible
Patterns of Failure	Not Monitored	Not Monitored	Not Monitored	Privacy Fiasco	Privacy Fiasco	Five Major
Privacy	Private	Not Private	Private	Not Private	Not Private	Private
Ranking	Fail	Fail	Fail	Fail	Fail	*Least Bad*

Winner

After all these years I have found no clear winner.

I am still using the Safari browser. However, I am only using it because it is slightly less awful for my work than the other browsers I have explored.

I am still searching for a mainstream browser that excels in all the areas that are important to me.

iOS BROWSERS

Introduction

January 20, 2025

I’ve been testing browsers on Mac since 2016. My testing spans two major areas:

Industry-standard Benchmark tests

Real-life testing during my work as a Developer

Data

Here are my findings thus far:

	Brave	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Safari
HTML5 test	504 points	463 points	463 points	462 points	506 points
JavaScript test	209 points	209 points	195 points	203 points	205 points
Speed test	199 points	251 points	208 points	227 points	249 points
Security test	Worst	Worst	Worst	Medium	Medium
Font Size test	Fail	Pass	Fail	Fail	Pass
Reliability	Five Failures	Never Failed	Eight Failures	Ten Failures	Never Failed
Updating	Consentual	Consentual	Consentual	Consentual	Consentual
Scoring	Reject	Reject	Reject	Reject	SELECT