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SPECIFICTION
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Safari vs Waterfox

Safari

apple.com

Waterfox

waterfox.com

Side by side

FigureSafariWaterfox
Price fromFree$5/mo
Free planYesYes
Free trial—Yes
Open source—Yes
Windows—Yes
macOSYesYes
Linux—Yes
iOSYes—
Android—Yes
Plans published12
Spec score · Web browsers8.6 (#28)9.3 (#3)
Browser engineothergecko
Cross-device syncYesYes
Founded19762011
Free planYesYes
HeadquartersCupertino, California, United StatesSuite 140, 372 Old Street, London, EC1V 9AU, United Kingdom
Supported platformsbothDownloads are listed for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android; Windows requires Windows 10 or later, macOS 10.15 or later, and Linux glibc 2.17 or later.
SupportApple Support provides Safari help for updating, clearing browsing history and cookies, blocking pop-ups, and troubleshooting websites that do not load.Waterfox provides help articles for browsing, privacy and security, customization, troubleshooting and Android.

Plans

Safari

  • SafariFree

Safari pricing →

Waterfox

  • WaterfoxFree
  • Waterfox Private Search$5 a month

Waterfox pricing →

In their own words

Safari

Safari is a free web browser and web technology platform built on WebKit, included with Apple device operating systems. It supports iOS, macOS, and extensions. Intelligent Tracking Prevention uses on-device machine learning to help prevent cross-site tracking, while Privacy Report shows trackers prevented from profiling you. Private Browsing does not retain visited pages or AutoFill information, and its open tabs are not stored in iCloud or synced across devices. Safari synchronizes passwords, bookmarks, history, tabs, and more across Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. Built-in tools include page translation, text interaction in images and paused video, and Visual Look Up. Extensions come through the App Store, and web apps can be saved to the Mac Dock or iPhone and iPad Home Screen. When enabled, Fraudulent Website Warning flags suspected phishing or malware sites. Apple no longer offers Safari updates for Windows or other non-Apple operating systems; Safari 5.1.7 was the last Windows version.

Visit apple.com

Waterfox

Waterfox is a free, open-source web browser built around privacy and customisation. It uses the Gecko engine and is listed for Android, browser extensions, Linux, macOS and Windows. On desktop, it blocks ads, trackers, pop-ups and overlays by default; filter lists and site exceptions can be adjusted. Private tabs use their own container, and Waterfox removes that container’s site data when the final private tab closes. DNS requests are encrypted and passed through an Oblivious HTTP relay; users can change or disable the default Fastly-operated relay and Cloudflare-operated resolver. Tree tabs nest pages under the page that opened them, with branches that can be collapsed or moved together. Firefox WebExtensions work, but Chrome-only extensions do not transfer automatically. Regular updates incorporate Mozilla security fixes using the Firefox ESR model. Waterfox says telemetry, health reports and crash reports are disabled at build time. Sync is off until Mozilla-account sign-in, and synced data is end-to-end encrypted. The browser plan is free, with no premium tier or required payment.

Visit waterfox.com