Firefox vs Chrome

Back in the day, web browsers didn't mean quite as much. Now they are an integral part of our lives. While we could just go with the system default back in the day, now passionate users support their browsers as fervently as their operating systems. We took the two most popular—Chrome and Firefox—and asked you to prove which one is better. Here's what you said.

Note: This post summarizes what you said, not necessarily what we think on the subject (although you might find a comment or two from us summarized as well, as we often participate in the discussion). 

Chrome Is More Polished, Firefox Is More Customizable

Google put a lot of work into making Chrome look nice and feel more polished than your average browser. As a result, you get a great experience out of the box. Firefox, on the other hand, offers a lot of control over how it looks and operates. While many people made this argument, our own Whitson Gordon summed it up most concisely:3

Chrome is a much more polished browser. It's smoother, it feels faster, and it's got a lot of cool extra features like application shortcuts and packaged apps. It is, without a doubt, the browser I'd recommend to most people, and it feels like a more mature browser despite the fact that it's older.

Firefox, though, still beats it in level of customization. It may be a little slower and clunkier, but with things like about:config you can really tweak every tiny corner to your heart's content (here are some of my favorite tweaks), which is pretty killer. It may not have as many big features, but the features it does have you can configure to the tiniest detail. And if you're a person that likes things just so, that's hard to give up.

Chrome Is Better for Developers

Developers tend to use Chrome. Why? Perhaps because Google employs many of them. Reader dougoftheabaci has another theory:

I could go on, I truly could, but there is no doubt in my mind which is superior. I would even gladly speak for all the developers I work with (about 20 or so) who all use Chrome as their primary. In fact, most devs and designers I know use Chrome as their primary browser, both for personal use and for testing and development. Why? The same reason chefs always have the best kitchens: We know what's the best and we don't want to use anything else.

Of course, you as a developer you kind of have to use multiple browsers. As a primary, however, Chrome tends to win out but whether or not that's because it's the best is a matter of opinion. It is more popular in general, however, so Chrome would have to be significantly worse for developers if Firefox were to take the lead with that specific group.

Firefox Has Better Extensions

Chrome has a lot of extensions, but some users feel Firefox has better, more capable ones. Reader missem falls into this camp:

Firefox wins on extensions, privacy and security. Chrome wins on simplicity and smoothness. However FF is working on both simplicity (australis) and smoothness (electrolysis) for next year. That said, they are more equal then many realize. FF favors the power user with many tabs and extensions. Chrome favors the average user with only a couple of tabs open and no extensions.

While others still look at Chrome very much as a browser for power users as well, Firefox (as noted earlier) offers more fine-grain control.

Chrome Offers Better Syncing Capabilities

Chrome syncs just about everything you do in the browser so you can log in on one computer or mobile device and essentially pick up where you left off. Of course, you have to use Chrome everywhere to have this benefit. Vrekk argues this point:

Chrome for Android syncs together well with the desktop and is just plain fast. (Not saying Firefox isn't though). Now I will say I tried Firefox for android the other day, and I loved it there. Really fast and plugins made things like lastpass a lot more usable on mobile where it is kinda impossible to use with Chrome. But the Desktop version of firefox can't match the Desktop version of Chrome, and because of all the sync features I use Chrome on both.

Cfc responds that Firefox handles this just as well:

Firefox syncs across my desktop and my Android device, just like Chrome would. Likewise, with the default configuration, Firefox will automatically update itself — again, just like Chrome does. The two are nearly identical on the vast majority of features.

So while people generally feel Chrome handles sync better, others find both browsers to be evenly matched.

Firefox Offers Better Privacy

According to reader missem, Firefox wins on both user privacy and security. Let's start with the privacy argument:

FF does not make money of user data. They go to such pains to protect their users that I think seeing how both Chrome and FF are both good browsers, this issue alone should be enough to drive people into Mozilla's arms.

And now, security:

I think that out of the box Chrome is likely to be very slightly more secure then FF due to its sandboxing model (which is why Chrome is also worse in memory usage). That said, FF's security extensions are so powerful that overall I think FF is superior in this category. Adblock plus, No Script, Ghostery, pdf.js and soon Shumway will lock your browser down like Fort Knox. But for inexperienced users who don't want to customize there can be slight benefits to using Chrome.

Furthermore, Chrome has an insecure password manager and you should use a third-party option instead. Overall, it's hard to argue against these points. Google does have something to gain by collecting data about you whereas Firefox does not—on the surface, at least. With third-party extensions—which Mozilla doesn't intend to lock down to prevent installations from outside of their own site—you can do a lot more to stay secure. If either of these things matter to you greatly, you may prefer Firefox.

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Chrome Crashes More—No, Firefox Does!

Depending on who you ask, both browsers crash a lot. Let's start with TiredOfHypocrites:

I tend to have lots of tabs open, and leave them open. I went from Firefox to Chrome, and now back to Firefox. The reason? Chrome eats up far more memory for the same amount of tabs than Firefox. Also, Firefox would always recover the previous session if it crashes; Chrome on the other hand, has failed multiples times.

Both Are Not Internet Explorer 6

Remember Internet Explorer 6 (IE6)? Some of you don't have to because you still have to use it at the office. It failed to work with most web sites since the day it came out, and while later versions of Internet Explorer have improved you don't see too many people using them. Firefox and Chrome both offer significantly better experiences for those who want to do more with the web (and, I think, in general as well). So you could be—and in some cases, may still be—stuck with Microsoft's beast that just won't die (even though they officially killed it and a funeral was held in celebration). Whether you prefer Chrome or Firefox for the little things one does better than the other, just remember how bad things used to be and cherish the modern browser you've got.