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Software · Web browsers

Waterfox

Waterfox is a web browser, available on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android.

  • Completely free
  • Windows, macOS, Linux and Android
  • Open source
  • No account

At a glance

All of Waterfox is free: no feature is locked behind a paid plan, and its code is open.

Its licence (MPL-2.0) is a copyleft open source licence: you may use, study, modify and redistribute it, including commercially; modified versions must keep the same licence.

Plans and conditions

  • Partner content: some results come from partner libraries, under their own (often paid) licences.

Strengths

  • Open source code
  • No account needed
  • Commercial use allowed

About

Waterfox is a privacy-focused browser built for power users who value customization and control over their online experience. It pairs a privacy-first foundation with the kind of deep customization normally reserved for extensions and hidden flags. Waterfox routes DNS-over-HTTPS through a Fastly-hosted Oblivious HTTP relay, disables DNS prefetching, blocks 0.0.0.0 lookups, and leaves Safe Browsing calls off so lookups stay private. Cookie-banner automation rejects consent prompts when possible, HTTPS-First is enforced, Global Privacy Control is declared, and telemetry, experiments, analytics, and ad feeds are stripped out. Private Tabs let you flip any tab into an isolated session with its own history, cookies, and default search. Tab context shortcuts can copy URLs, unload sleeping tabs, or restart the browser with cache-purge options, while privacy-first ergonomics keep scripted pop-ups in tabs, prompt for new download handlers, and restore the classic status bar with live link previews. Layout controls move tab bars, bookmark bars, restart switches, and status bars without touching userChrome.css. Switch between Waterfox, Lepton, and Proton presets, adjust icon weight, padding, autohide behaviour, and rounding, or load legacy userChrome and userContent tweaks. Modern web APIs such as WebGPU, WebCodecs H.265, Web Share, JPEG XL, CSS Masonry, and scroll-driven animations are enabled by default, and Startpage plus Waterfox Private Search ship as defaults with a separate private-window engine.

Description from Flathub — AppStream (Flathub)

Sources and checks

  • Facts collected from Flathub (credit card, source code, publisher, licence, free status, platforms, commercial use, version) —
  • Facts collected from Winget (Windows Package Manager) (credit card, account, publisher, licence, free status, platforms, commercial use, version) —
  • Facts collected from Official plan pages (pricing, licence, terms) (limits, commercial use) —
  • Facts collected from LicitPro automatic classification () —
  • Facts collected from Wikidata (licence, platforms) —
  • Last technical check: 5 November 2026
  • Description from Flathub — AppStream (Flathub)

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