Privacy by default
Brave Browser includes Shields to block many third-party ads, trackers, cross-site cookies, and fingerprinting techniques. Users can inspect and adjust these protections for individual websites.
About Brave
About Brave Software
Brave Software is an independent, privately held Internet company that develops Brave Browser, Brave Search, and related privacy-focused products. Its stated mission is to build a user-first Web with greater privacy, openness, and user control.
What is Brave Software?
Brave Software was co-founded in 2015 by Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy. The company began with a privacy-focused browser and later expanded into independent web search, advertising, AI assistance, communication, wallet, VPN, and developer products.
The company positions privacy as a product architecture decision rather than an optional setting. Its browser blocks many third-party ads and trackers by default, while its search engine is built around an independent web index and does not rely on a personal search profile for ordinary queries.
How Brave approaches browser and search design
Brave combines familiar web compatibility with default privacy protections, independent search infrastructure, and tools designed to reduce reliance on additional extensions or data-driven personalization.
Compatibility through Chromium
Brave desktop is built on the open-source Chromium project. This provides broad website compatibility, familiar developer tools, and support for most Chrome extensions while allowing Brave to remove or modify selected Chromium features.
Independent search infrastructure
Brave Search uses its own web index rather than repackaging results from Google or Bing. It offers web search, AI-assisted answers, result controls, and developer access through the Brave Search API.
Multiple products, separate data boundaries
Brave Browser, Search, Leo, VPN, Rewards, Ads, Wallet, Talk, and Search API are distinct products. Their availability, payment terms, privacy behavior, and data processing rules differ by platform, region, account state, and selected features.
What makes Brave different from Google Chrome?
Brave and Chrome share the open-source Chromium foundation, but they are separate browsers made by different companies. Brave adds its own interface, privacy protections, search options, sync system, AI assistant, wallet, and other services, while removing or changing selected Chromium components.
This shared technical base helps preserve website and extension compatibility, but it does not make Brave equivalent to Google Chrome. Users should compare account integration, telemetry, default protections, enterprise management, extension requirements, and platform-specific features before switching.
Brave is an Internet product company
Brave Software develops a connected product portfolio that includes browser, search, AI, advertising, communication, wallet, VPN, and API services. Not every feature is free, available in every country, or included on every platform.
Questions about Brave Software
What products does Brave Software develop?
Its main products include Brave Browser and Brave Search, along with Leo, Talk, Wallet, Rewards, Ads, Firewall + VPN, News, and the Brave Search API. Availability varies by platform and region.
Who founded Brave Software?
Brave Software was co-founded in 2015 by Brendan Eich, creator of JavaScript and co-founder of Mozilla, and Brian Bondy, a former Mozilla and Khan Academy engineer.
Is Brave Browser open source?
Yes. Brave Browser is built on the open-source Chromium project, and Brave states that its client code is published under the Mozilla Public License 2.0.
Is Brave owned by Google or another large technology company?
No. Brave Software describes itself as an independent, privately held company. It uses Chromium as an open-source technical foundation, but that does not make Google the owner of Brave.