10 best privacy web browsers for Android

Privacy is a bigger deal now than ever before. People know how sites can track them these days and are taking active steps to prevent it. After all, some of that tracking can be pretty creepy. A good privacy browser can help. They generally don’t save cookies, often block trackers, and sometimes even block advertising. There are three types of privacy browsers. The first actively deletes all traces of you browsing the web after you exit, including cookies, history, passwords, etc. The second type blocks trackers and ads and keeps websites from knowing who you are. Finally, the third type does both. We have all three types on this list. Here are the best privacy web browsers for Android.

The best privacy browser apps for Android

Brave Browser

Price: Free / In-app purchases ($9.99 – $99.99 per item)

Brave Browser is a decent privacy web browser. It comes with most of the usual stuff including ad and tracker blocking, a private search, an incognito mode, HTTPS Everywhere, script blocking, third-party cookie blocking, and more. This browser was torn down and rebuilt several times over the last few years and there are a few bugs here and there. It works rather well other than that. Plus, the app is free and it looks nice.

Dolphin Zero

Price: Free

Dolphin Zero is an above-average incognito browser. The app boasts a small download size (500kb), a Do Not Track mode that prevents the app from storing a bunch of information as well as an ad blocker. It’s not quite as powerful as some others. However, if all you need is to make sure nobody sees your browsing history, this one does a reasonable enough job. Plus, it has some neat features like gesture controls, themes, and the ability to download video content.

DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser

Price: Free

DuckDuckGo is a fairly trustworthy name in online Internet browsing. The company’s web browser is measurably less intrusive than Google or Bing and people choose it for that reason. The privacy browser by DuckDuckGo isn’t half bad either. The app blocks all hidden third-party trackers that it can find and then show you what it blocked. Additionally, it uses its own search engine by default and it doesn’t track your online movements. Finally, it also uses HTTPS Everywhere to keep your web life a secret. The app works fairly well as a browser and we honestly have no real complaints about it.

Fennec

Price: Free

Fennec is an open-source browser that is similar to Firefox, but without the Firefox branding. It’s only available on F-Droid since you can get regular Firefox on the Google Play Store. This version is slightly different from the Google Play version. It removes some telemetry stuff that the full version has, and also removes proprietary Google stuff like Google Play Services for notifications. That makes it a bit more private than the official version, which we still include on this list. Otherwise, the features are identical. Syncing across platforms works, as does add-ons, plugins, and the other stuff Firefox is known for.

Firefox

Price: Free

Firefox has a lot going for it in terms of security. It had a browser, Firefox Focus, that was on this list for a while. However, most of its features were rolled into Firefox proper. The app contains tracking protection that automatically blocks over 2,000 online trackers. You can also change the search engine to whatever you want and there are add-ons that add even more security and privacy if you want. The big win here is Firefox is cross-platform with syncing so you can use the same thing on all of your platforms without issue.

Frost+ Incognito Browser

Price: $2.99

Frost+ Incognito Browser is another less popular pick with some good features. The app automatically deletes your browsing data when you exit the app. Additionally, it has both an image vault as well as a bookmark vault. Anything you download from here is hidden from the rest of your phone and your bookmarks are hidden from anyone trying to access your web browser. You simply put your password into the address bar and you get access to all of your hidden stuff. It doesn’t work so well on things like trackers or ads, but it does protect from other people in the real world pretty well. There’s also a free version available on Google Play Store.

Vivaldi

Price: Free

Vivaldi is a newer fast and super customizable chromium-based browser. This one has gained popularity with many users due to its new features and customization. There’s stuff like desktop-styled tabs, an in-built Adblocker, protection against trackers, and even a private translator. One neat feature is the personalized speed dial, which allows you to favorite bookmarks as speed dials on the new tab from where you can access them quickly. The two-level stack tabs are also one prominent feature. Overall, it’s a great browser.

Incognito Browser

Price: Free

Incognito Browser is an above-average privacy browser for mobile. It covers a lot of the basics you want in this category. It erases your history every time you close the app. Additionally, it comes with a dark mode, saves no data to the phone, and it lets you choose your search engine. The app doesn’t stop sites from tracking you, unfortunately, but it does make sure nobody knows what you do on your web browser except you. It’s a decent overall experience.

Tor Browser

Price: Free

Tor Browser is one of the biggest names in privacy. It connects directly to the Tor network and, like InBrowser, that makes tracking you really difficult for websites. The app also deals with trackers, has three levels of encryption, and the app functions fairly well as a browser too. This one is a bit overkill but we quite enjoy stuff like that. InBrowser is the more mature browser with better features but if you must have three levels of encryption, you now know where to go.

Any browser with a VPN

Price: Free

The biggest thing websites use when tracking you is your traffic fingerprint and your IP address. A VPN can help block both of those things on its own. Thus, you’d be free to use whatever browser you want and all anybody sees is that you’re using a VPN. VPNs also have the benefit of working in every app and not just the browser. There are a ton to choose from and only some of them are good. You want something with a strict no-logging policy and other privacy features. We have a great list of them here if you want to check that out. We put ProtonVPN at the button below because it has a free, unlimited version (at slower speeds) and good privacy features. A good VPN turns any browser into one of the great privacy web browsers.

If we missed any great privacy web browsers, tell us about it in the comments. You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.
Thank you for reading.