In this article, I‘ll make a data-driven discussion on the most popular web browsers in the world. We will have a look at the top 10 Internet Browsers and also review the best web browsers by comparing important features.
Did you know that over 66% of the world’s population has access to the internet? According to Statista, there are 5.35 billion internet users worldwide in January 2024.
The most common ways to consume the internet are via (1) Web Browsers and (2) Social Media Apps.
Now, it is somewhat obvious that most users use the internet through default web browsers installed on various devices i.e. computers or smartphones, etc.
And if I am not wrong you are also reading this article on an internet browser.
As day by day, the internet users graph is going up and so are the chances of attack by malware, spammers, and other phishing activities, are increasing.
Therefore, it is necessary to use a safe and reliable web browser to safeguard your digital credentials (like passwords, security codes, tracking information, etc.) and your personal information.
Before looking at how popular your favorite web browser is in the world, it may interest you to know how Wikipedia defines a web browser and a little history of web browsers.
If you don’t want to read this chronicle stuff, you may directly jump to the next paragraph.
☲ Table of Contents
- What is a Web Browser?
- World’s Most Popular Web Browsers of 2024
- List of Top 10 Internet Browsers 2024
- 1. Chrome: Market Share – 63.83%
- 2. Safari: Market Share – 19.76%
- 3. Edge: Market Share – 5.1%
- 4. Firefox: Market Share – 2.98%
- 5. Opera: Market Share – 2.74%
- 6. Samsung Internet: Market Share – 2.48%
- 7. UC Browser: Market Share – 0.88%
- 8. Android: Market Share – 0.59%
- 9. Yandex Browser: Market Share – 0.27%
- 10. Others: Market Share – 1.37% Combined
- List of Top 10 Internet Browsers 2024
- Most Popular Web Browsers Market Share – Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile
- Most Popular Web Browsers of 2024 (Reviewed & Compared)
What is a Web Browser?
So, What is called a Web Browser? According to Wikipedia,
A web browser (commonly referred to as a browser) is a software application for retrieving, presenting and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI/URL) and maybe a web page, image, video or other pieces of content. Hyperlinks present in resources enable users easily to navigate their browsers to related resources.
– Wikipedia
In simple words, a Web Browser is a Computer Application that allows the user to connect to the internet to access web pages, videos, images, or other information.
When was the first Web Browser Developed?
The first Web Browser was developed in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee and is also known as TimBL. Initially, it was called WorldWideWeb and later was renamed as Nexus.
And in 1993, Marc Andreessen was the man who created a Web Browser with a graphical user interface called Mosaic later known as Netscape, which was the world’s first popular browser with a graphical user interface.
Now, let’s discuss what are the most popular web browsers in the world.
World’s Most Popular Web Browsers of 2024
Based on data from StatCounter, here is the worldwide Browser Market Share for the period of Feb 2023 to Feb 2024. The browser market has been dynamic, with various web browsers competing for dominance.
According to the data, Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox, and Opera continue to be the top 5 internet web browsers, much like last year.
List of Top 10 Internet Browsers 2024
Here is the list of the top 10 internet browsers, along with their corresponding market shares:
- Chrome – 63.83%
- Safari – 19.76%
- Edge – 5.1%
- Firefox – 2.98%
- Opera – 2.74%
- Samsung Internet – 2.48%
- UC Browser – 0.88%
- Android – 0.59%
- Yandex Browser – 0.27%
- Others – 1.37% combined
When you talk about surfing the web, Chrome is the king as always. The web browser from search engine giant Google dominates the world with over 63% share. Chrome continues to be the go-to browser for more than half of internet users around the world, thanks to its speed, security, extension library, and seamless integration with Google services.
Safari comes in second, but it is not just any runner-up. It is the heart of browsing for all Apple device users due to its optimization for macOS and iOS. With its 19.76% market share, Safari shows that it is loved for its clean design and its respect for user privacy. If you are using an Apple device, Safari is tailored for you.
We have Edge in the third spot. Microsoft’s Edge has been gaining a steady following with a market share of 5.1%. It has gained traction by offering a Chromium-based engine, improved performance, and compatibility with Chrome extensions. It is well-integrated with Windows and offers good performance.
Firefox might not be as big as it once was, but it is still a top choice for many. It has an internet browser share of 2.98% because it values your privacy and is open source. For those who care about an open web and want to keep their browsing to themselves, Firefox is a solid option.
Opera stands strong in the fifth position. It might have a smaller slice of the pie at 2.74%, but it boasts great features like a free VPN and an ad blocker. For someone looking for a browser with built-in perks, Opera could be the right pick.
Samsung Internet, specifically designed for Samsung devices holds 2.48%. This default browser is handy and tightly integrated well with other Samsung apps and services. If you have a Samsung device, you can definitely go with this default browser.
In seventh place, we have UC Browser, holding onto 0.88%. It is popular for its data-saving capabilities and fast loading times. If you are on a limited data plan or need a zippy browsing experience, UC Browser could be what you need.
The default browser on Android devices has a market share of 0.59%. It is simple and does the job for Android users who do not want complexity. It comes pre-installed in a few versions of vanilla Android and it is okay if you just want to get online without any fuss.
Yandex Browser captures the ninth place with 0.27%. It is mostly popular in its native country Russia and Russian-speaking countries. The browser claims to make things easier and safer for its users and offers highly integrated Yandex services including Turbo mode and DNS Spoofing Protection.
Lastly, we group all the other players like 360 Safe Browser, QQ Browser, and IE under “Others,” making up a combined market share of 1.34%. These browsers are for specific needs and offer unique browsing tools. You can find some hidden gems for your niche requirements, feel free to explore.
Each browser on this list of top 10 internet browsers has its reasons for being where it is on the list. Whether it is because of speed, simplicity, privacy, default integration, or compatibility with devices, you can easily find a browser that will meet your needs perfectly.
In this section, let’s have a look at who’s leading the pack in the world of web browsers for desktops, tablets, and mobile phones. I have compiled the market share data of the top 10 browsers in all three categories in the table below.
Data Source: Statcounter,
Data Duration: Feb 2023 to Feb 2024,
Categories: Web Browser Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile.
| # | Desktop | % Share | Tablet | % Share | Mobile | % Share |
| 1 | Chrome | 64.51 | Chrome | 49.17 | Chrome | 64.12 |
| 2 | Safari | 11.85 | Safari | 35.54 | Safari | 25.43 |
| 3 | Edge | 11.08 | Android | 12.98 | Samsung Internet | 4.5 |
| 4 | Firefox | 6.32 | Opera | 0.78 | Opera | 1.94 |
| 5 | Opera | 3.87 | Edge | 0.5 | UC Browser | 1.58 |
| 6 | 360 Safe Browser | 0.61 | Puffin | 0.22 | Android | 0.62 |
| 7 | IE | 0.47 | Yandex Browser | 0.21 | Firefox | 0.5 |
| 8 | Yandex Browser | 0.38 | UC Browser | 0.16 | QQ Browser | 0.26 |
| 9 | QQ Browser | 0.24 | Firefox | 0.11 | Edge | 0.2 |
| 10 | Other | 0.67 | Other | 0.33 | Other | 0.84 |
Let’s analyze the market share of desktop, tablet, and mobile web browsers based on the data provided in the table above.
Popular Desktop Browsers – 2024
- Chrome dominates the desktop market with a market share of 64.51%. Its nearest competitor, Safari, lags significantly behind with 11.85%.
- Edge and Firefox hold the third and fourth positions with 11.08% and 6.32% market share respectively.
- Opera follows with a market share of 3.87%, positioning itself as a niche player in the desktop browser market.
- Lesser-known browsers like 360 Safe Browser, IE, Yandex Browser, QQ Browser, and others hold smaller market shares in the desktop browser segment; 2.37% of the total.
Popular Tablet Browsers – 2024
- Chrome also leads in the tablet segment with a market share of 49.17%, although it holds a lower share compared to desktop.
- Safari exhibits a strong presence in tablets, capturing 35.54% of the market.
- Android, Opera, and Edge follow with smaller market shares of 12.98%, 0.78%, and 0.5% respectively.
- Puffin, Yandex Browser, UC Browser, Firefox, and other browsers cater to a niche audience in the tablet browser market with a combined market share of 1.03%.
Popular Mobile Browsers – 2024
- Chrome maintains its dominance in the mobile browser segment as well, holding a substantial market share of 64.12%.
- Safari follows with 25.43%, indicating a strong preference for Safari on mobile devices.
- Samsung Internet secures the third position with a market share of 4.5%, establishing itself as a significant player in the mobile browser market.
- Opera, UC Browser, and Firefox have smaller shares ranging from 1.94% to 0.5%. Other mobile browsers round out the market with their smaller but still significant presence considering the total user base.
Key Takeaway
- Chrome emerges as the clear leader across all three device categories, indicating its cross-device popularity, user preference, and satisfaction.
- Safari is a strong contender in tablets and mobile devices, showcasing Apple’s stronghold in these segments and its popularity among Apple device users.
- Firefox, Edge, and Opera maintain their positions across different devices, albeit with varying market shares.
Most Popular Web Browsers of 2024 (Reviewed & Compared)
These statistics of market share clearly indicate the uses and preferences of the users for Internet Browsers. Further, Let us take a closer look at the standout features of the top 10 web browsers for desktop and mobile devices.
Nowadays, there is not much difference in the basic engine of desktop and mobile web browsers. Whether we are talking about speed, design, or security, these browsers are always evolving. They listen to what features we want and deliver it, especially when it comes to online safety.
Safety is a big deal when you are surfing the web. Thankfully, most of these popular internet browsers like Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge are leading the pack. They have been called out for their strong security by research from places like Accuvant Labs, Sandbox, and SunSpider.
Many browsers, including favorites like Chrome and Firefox, share their roots with an open-source project known as Chromium. Google plays a huge role in keeping Chromium safe and up-to-date. This means that if a browser is built on Chromium, it gets all the latest security fixes that Chrome does. Plus, these browsers can use all the Chrome Extensions without any trouble.
Now, let us talk about Safari. Apple’s team works on Safari, making sure it is secure. Since Safari runs on MacOS, which is based on Linux, it faces fewer risks from viruses. This makes Safari a strong contender in the browser security game too.
Whether you are on a desktop or mobile, choosing the right browser matters. It is all about finding that perfect mix of speed, convenience, and security.
How to Choose the Best Web Browser for Your Use
Primarily, you should look for the five basic categories while assessing a web browser.
- Speed – The web browser should render web pages in no time, it should be lightning fast.
- Privacy and Security – It should offer data privacy features and should have a security shield for viruses/malware.
- Basic Browsing Features – Tabbed Browsing, Bookmarks Manager, AutoFill, Auto search from the address bar, Password Manager, Download Manager, One-click clear browser cache, cookies removal, etc.
- Updates and Support – The developer should support the development of the web browser for the long term and should provide frequent updates to improve security and performance.
- Extensions/Plugins – It should offer a repository of various extensions developed by third parties.
Note – In the case of mobile web browsers, you should eliminate the last category, as most mobile web browsers do not offer extensions.
So, without any further due, we’ll review and compare the best web browsers in the world.
#1. Chrome
The browser developed by the search engine leader Google, since its beginning, Chrome is at the top of the game. It is also the most popular web browser by statistics. The enormous success of the Chrome browser over the years is an unending truth of its popularity because of its simplicity, security, and performance. It is based on the open-source project, Chromium.
Most of the modern features were first introduced by Chrome, for example, tabbed browsing. Chrome is just not a web browser it is more than that. It integrates most of the Google Search features seamlessly, and you access them directly from the address bar.
It also allows you to sync browser data with all your devices using your Google account. Another strong point of this browser is the support of Chrome Extensions, from its store you can find an extension for anything that can be done on the web. Read our post on the Best Chrome Extensions here.
However, we have noticed that activity tracking of users in Chrome has increased severely over some time, in the name of serving relevant and personalized ads. Another thing which I do not like is the use of high resources. Chrome is a memory-hogging application and to run it smoothly you need to have a device with at least 4GB RAM.
Chrome is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
[Download Chrome Now]#2. Firefox
Firefox, the second-largest used web browser in the world, was developed and supported by a not-for-profit called Mozilla Corporation, with a mission to keep the internet open and accessible to all. The browser has all the modern features with additional features for web application development, and that is why it is the most recommended browser by developers.
With the release of Firefox Quantum, it is two times faster than before due to its crazy powerful browser engine. Firefox Quantum also takes privacy very seriously. It has also introduced the most powerful private browsing mode with added tracking protection. Apart from that, you can customize Firefox with thousands of extensions as per your requirements.
The latest version of Firefox browser for desktops is Firefox Quantum is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It’s Android counterpart is called Firefox, which is a full-scale, lightning-fast browse without any compromise. A similar mobile version is also available for iOS.
There is another privacy-focused mobile web browser from Mozilla is Firefox Focus. It offers Automatic ad blocking and tracking protection by default.
[Download Firefox from here]#3. Safari
The third most popular web browser on this list is Safari, the in-built web browser for macOS and iOS devices. Safari web browser is comprehensive and offers many unique features to support and integrate a Mac and an iPhone.
You will find that over time, the performance, and features of the Safari browser have been improved significantly, especially for the mobile version. It also offers the use of in-house and third-party extensions to improve productivity.
Earlier, Safari was also available for Windows devices, however, the development of windows Windows-supported Safari web browser was withdrawn a few years ago. Now, it is available for macOS, iOS, and iPad OS. It is in-built, however, it can be downloaded from their website.
[Explore Safari here]#4. Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge is the default web browser for Windows 10 and later, offering a range of features focused on productivity, security, and compatibility. It is also available for macOS, iOS, and Android.
Microsoft introduced the Edge web browser as a replacement for the iconic Internet Explorer. The Internet Explorer browser, most likely to be used by every one of us, was initially released in 1995 by Microsoft. Since then, it has been changed completely with the newer version of Microsoft Windows. However, it is still used by millions of users because of the application compatibility and limitations of the operating system. It offers all the necessary security and privacy-related features. It is not a very fast browser but serves the purpose.
The Edge browser had the backward compatibility of Internet Explorer with the earlier version of Windows 10. Since then, Edge has had many updates and additional features with an advanced user interface for touchscreen devices. The Edge browser is comparably fast and consumes fewer resources. So, if you use it on a laptop, there are high chance that you will notice an improvement in run-time on battery.
The Chromium-based Microsoft Edge is doing very well in comparison to its early years. Because of this situation, Microsoft recently announced the use of Chromium as a base engine for the fresh development of Edge browser from scratch, to level up their game in the world of web browsers.
Edge can be separately downloaded for Windows and Android operating systems.
[Explore the Microsoft Edge here]#5. Opera
Another name on the list of top 10 internet browsers is called Opera, also based on the project Chromium. It is faster, safer, and smarter because of its unique features. Opera browser comes with a free in-built VPN, a fast ad blocker, and out-of-the-support for Web 3.0 for more control of your browsing experience.
Its free VPN service is quite useful in order to open blocked websites by your Internet Service Provider. Opera also provides integration of popular messaging web applications like WhatsApp and Messenger (Facebook).
Apart from that, all the basic features are available in Opera, which are listed in the criteria for how to choose the best web browser. Opera is a multi-device cross-platform web browser as per the following details. You can use Opera on a variety of devices and operating systems as it is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
For Android, there are a couple of versions you can download such as Opera for Android, Opera Mini, and Opera Touch-optimized for touch screen large devices. Even it is available for basic phones and Java-based phones.
It would be interesting to know that you can even use Opera via a USB device, just download its USB version, install it on USB and you will have a plug-and-play version of the browser.
[Download Opera from here]Apart from these top 5 internet browsers based on their uses, there are a few web browsers that are not on this list. But, they offer a unique selling proposition and target a specific community. I think all the following web browsers are worth mentioning.
#6. Vivaldi
Vivaldi, customization-focused web browser puts you in total control. It allows you to control and change the look and feel of your browser. You can even tweak the way you interact with your browser. User data privacy is one of the primary foci of this browser.
[Check out Vivaldi here]#7. Avast Secure Browser
A browser made with the security in mind. Developed by Avast, one of the best antivirus application developers and security experts out there. It is not just secure but fast as well.
[Install Avast Browser from here]#8. Tor Browser
Tor Browser lets you defend yourself and protect yourself against tracking, surveillance, and censorship. It is more than just a browser, it offers a whole suite of online security tools. The Tor Project is a non-profit organization with a mission of private access to the uncensored web for everyone.
The browser offers all the basic features like tab browsing, etc. and advanced privacy and security features to keep you safe. Tor browser is also one of the most popular web browsers in hackers. It is also available for Android and you can download it from the Google play store by searching “Tor for Android”.
[Explore and download Tor Browser here]#9. Maxthon
An extremely fast & secure browser offers various in-house features developed by the parent company. It comes with an ad-blocker by default, and offers dedicated reader mode, night mode, screen-capture tool, and many other customization features. So, you don’t need to have extensions as you need in Chrome and Firefox.
[Check out Maxthon here]#10. Brave Browser
A relatively new web browser puts your privacy and security first. It is based on the Chromium project, the same as Chrome. It is also an open-source project that was built by a team of privacy-focused, performance-oriented pioneers of the web. Its core blocks ads, tracking cookies, and any other kind of surveillance.
The Brave Browser is 8 times faster than Chrome and Safari. And it has an awesome Reward Program, which lets you earn credits by clicking on ads based on your choice, and those credits you can spend on various services.
[Brave Browser download website here]From mobile devices, especially for Android; UC Browser, Samsung Internet, Kiwi Browser, and Dolphin Browser are also popular on Google Play Store. Pl read the review before downloading the same.
Hope you find this article on the World’s most popular web browsers for desktop and mobile devices informative and helpful. Which internet browser do you use or want to include in the list of top 10 internet browsers, do let us know via the comments section below.
Choose wisely and happy browsing!
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Great post. I think it’s interesting how in the USA, at least in the IT world, everyone criticizes IE. Yet in the rest of the world it is clearly still the leading browser. And not just by a little bit – we’re talking 3 times that of Chrome and Firefox!
Nice job on this.
Tim, glad you found it informative. Thanks for the great feedback 🙂
That’s a great pick up from best web browsers. My favorite is Brave Browser.
Thanks for this overview, gives me a good high level appreciation of the browsers out there. Can I check with you on the source for the statistics for the desktop and mobile browsers market share? Thanks in advance
Hi, can you advise the sources for the statistics for the market share?
It is StatCounter, you can find the link in the article.
I found this review really insightful! I’ve been using Chrome for years, but this article made me consider trying out some of the other browsers. Thanks for the detailed analysis.
Hey, It was super interesting! I mostly use Chrome because it’s fast and easy, but it was cool to learn about other options like Safari, Firefox, and Edge. Thanks for sharing!
Great job. The post was very useful and Informative.Thank you.
Great post.