# Waterfox

75 Hacker News commenters recommended Waterfox and 22 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 1 years (7 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Firefox-based browser people switch to for removing Mozilla extras, privacy-minded defaults and no AI features. Critics note it lags Firefox on security fixes.

## Why people recommend it

- Strips out Mozilla extras and AI features (5 comments): "I am very thankful that they aren't going to be including any of the LLM crud that Mozilla has been talking up." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46300017)) "The best way to use it is to use the aforementioned forks which remove the excess" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48881076)) "have both plucked out all unnecessary stuff Mozilla added over the years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47793784))
- Privacy: telemetry off, no data selling (4 comments): "telemetry/analytics/experiments disabled at build time and alongside a fair few patches on top" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46205820)) "The browser's job is to load web pages, keep your data private, and get out of the way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47572319)) "since they're Firefox-based but don't steal your data or claim copyright on it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47617763))
- Independent of Mozilla's decisions (5 comments): "Waterfox is the one with the strongest case that they can continue on even if they have to fully decouple from Mozilla Firefox" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48515986)) "projects like Waterfox are valuable precisely because they push back on some of Mozilla's product decisions" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47574555)) "My favorite browser by far, especially since Mozilla/Firefox pissed me off one time too many." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48498476))
- Keeps Firefox extensions and profiles (3 comments): "Native tree style tabs, minimalist UI, built in ad blocking, Firefox extensions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49515161)) "I chose WF in large part because its profile remains compatible with FF" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48022481)) "Did you know that a custom version of TST is the native tab handling mechanism in Waterfox?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49943752))

## What people warn about

- Text ads on default search page (3 comments): "Waterfox has text ads on the default search page based on your search query, not based on tracking you" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47574027)) "Waterfox's approach of allowing text ads on the default search partner page is our own decision for sustainability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47572740)) "allowing text ads on the default search partner page is our own decision for sustainability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47569907))
- Less maintenance capacity than Mozilla (2 comments): "can't meaningfully match mozilla's maintenance of the core browser" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49726980)) "Ungoogled Chromium and Waterfox are at best a temporary measure" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46300915))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Firefox](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox.md): 1572 recommend
- [Brave](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brave-browser.md): 397 recommend
- [Safari](https://hackerapproved.com/p/safari.md): 307 recommend
- [Orion Browser by Kagi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/orion-browser.md): 206 recommend
- [LibreWolf](https://hackerapproved.com/p/librewolf.md): 113 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Waterfox", https://hackerapproved.com/p/waterfox/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).