FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
Brave Browser
No, Brave will always be free to use — you don’t need to pay to block ads and tracking.
We encourage you to support your favorite publishers with Brave Rewards, or get compensated for paying attention to Brave Ads, but these features are both completely voluntary. You can use one, the other, both, or neither.
Some have asked that when we do eventually allow select ads through, whether we will employ the “Acceptable Ads” model. There are two parts to that model, filter rules and business deals. Take the second first:
We do not use the business model of taking annual fees from advertisers to allow their ads (and trackers for confirmation) to pass unblocked. Our business model does not couple our ad and flat fee based revenue to which ads we block.
We do use some of the filter rules that are associated with “Acceptable Ads” to block known-bad domains and URL patterns; and to block and clean up after HTML-native ads.
We use all-open source, and we welcome help in auditing our source and verifying our binaries on Debian Linux (verified binaries provably derive from a given version of open source).
Watch Brendan speak about this here for more on verified builds.
Beyond this lower-level auditing, we will need partners to believe in our anonymous ad attribution and conversion confirmation system. More on this as we build it out in near-term milestones on the road to Brave 1.0.
Tracking scripts (trackers) and ads that depend on them are blocked by default. You can allow ads and trackers in the Shields settings globally and for each site.
Brave allows you to opt into Brave Rewards, which includes privately matched ads that do not track you, and that pay you a revenue share to support the creators you like.
In 2016, Brave introduced proposal for a private and anonymous third-party ad-replacement system. We are pleased that it generated an informed and vital debate regarding the problem of uncontrolled trackers and ad exchanges, which in the worst cases spread malware through unaware publishers.
In 2017, we are focusing on the Basic Attention Token (BAT), and the ecosystem that it will enable, offering users and publishers a better way to fund the Web. With BAT (along with staking users with a share of tokens), Brave will work to offer privately-matched, anonymously-verified ads. Users can opt-into this.
Brave is working with verified publishers (hundreds of whom have already joined via publishers.brave.com) to help generate greater revenue per user than they receive from today’s broken ad-tech ecosystem.
More information regarding the Basic Attention Token is available here.
Brave blocks ads and trackers by default. We will soon release the ability for users to opt into receiving some ads. We will offer this option as another way — beyond Brave Payments — that users can support publishers.
When they do appear, there will be fewer but higher quality ads. Rest assured, that even if you opt into receiving these ads, trackers will still be blocked and your privacy will still be protected. We will provide more detail around this feature when it is ready.
Extensions face API and performance limits. Additionally, popular extension stores often host malicious counterfeit extensions, which have lead to millions of infected users.
Building our own browser lets us put our best foot forward on matters of speed and privacy. We may do extensions if our users find themselves browsing in other browsers often.
As mentioned above, the browser knows almost everything you do. It knows what sites you visit, how much time you spend on them, what you look at, what is visible “above the fold” and not occluded by opaque layers, what searches you make, what groups of tabs you open while researching major purchases, etc.
Only the browser, after HTTPS terminates and secure pages are decrypted, has all of your private data needed to analyze user intent. Our auditable open source browser code protects this intent data on the client device. Our server side has no access to this data in the clear, nor does it have decryption keys. We do not run a MitM proxy or VPN service.
While we will block third-party cookies where you have no first-party relationship with the cookie’s domain, we don’t block first party cookies by default.
However, the Brave user will have the option to selectively block/enable cookies globally or on a site-by-site basis. Google will only have the ability to track you within their own domain and they won’t be able to use that information to target you outside of google.com.
Brave Rewards General
Each installation of Brave (or user profile within Brave) has its own Brave Rewards profile. So, if you install Brave on two different computers, you will have at least 2 different Brave Rewards profiles.
You can connect multiple Brave Rewards profiles to a single payout account, allowing you to consolidate your earnings into one and use the shared BAT balance across your profiles.
Basic Attention Token. It is a utility token based on the Ethereum technology that can also be used as a unit of account between advertisers, creators, and users in our new, blockchain-based digital advertising and services platform.
Ownership of the tokens carry no rights other than the right to use them as a means to obtain services on the BAT platform, and to enable usage of and interaction with the platform, if successfully completed and deployed.
The tokens do not represent or confer any ownership right or stake, share or security or equivalent rights, or any right to receive future revenue shares, intellectual property rights or any other form of participation in or relating to the BAT platform, and/or Brave and its affiliates. The tokens are not refundable and are not intended to be a digital currency, security, commodity or any other kind of financial instrument.
You can learn more about Basic Attention Token on the Basic Attention Token website.
Since your BAT and other funds are stored inside your custodial account or at your Web3/crypto address, keeping your funds safe is mostly a matter of keeping access to the login details of your custodial account safe, or your private keys safe. Brave does not have access to your custodial account or Web3/crypto private keys.
If you use a custodial account as your payout account for Brave Rewards, you also authorize your Brave browser to have some access to your custodial account through your provider’s API. Every so often, you’ll be automatically logged out for security. In addition, certain actions may require the browser to be reauthorized, such as sending more than a certain amount in contributions. This helps limit theft of funds in case someone gains unauthorized access to your device.
All automatic contributions, such as those made using the Auto-Contribute feature, are anonymized such that no one can link these transactions to a specific user’s Brave Rewards profile or browsing activity, thanks to the extensive use of privacy preserving cryptographic protocols.
If you make an on-demand contribution from your custodial account, your chosen custodial account provider may be able to see some details of your transaction.
For more information, please read our Privacy Policy.
Brave is currently partnered with Uphold, Gemini, BitFlyer and ZebPay as custodial account providers. Brave’s custodial partners are third-party services that allow users to store and manage their BAT, including the BAT users earn from Brave Rewards.
Note that support for connecting a custodial account to Brave Rewards varies by region. You can find a list of supported regions by custodial account provider here.
Brave Creators
A “creator” or “publisher” is someone who owns a website or an account on a user-generated content platform like YouTube, X (formerly Twitter), Reddit, Twitch, Vimeo, etc. We prefer to use the word “creator” as a catchall term to mean anyone who creates or publishes content online.
By signing up with Brave Creators, you can receive contributions from Brave users who enable the Brave Rewards feature!
A “Verified Creator” is a website, account, or channel that can receive contributions from Brave Rewards users. For example, a YouTube channel can appear as a “Verified Creator” to Brave Rewards users. When Brave Rewards users visit a Verified Creator site, channel, or account, they will see a blue checkmark next to the BAT icon in the URL bar of their Brave browser.
In order to have your websites, accounts, and channels appear as verified to Brave Rewards users and display a blue checkmark, you need to (1) register your website, account, or channel with your Brave Creators account, and (2) connect an account from one of our custodial partners to your Brave Creators account. Connecting an account from one of our custodial partners gives us and Brave Rewards users a place to send you your contributions (which come in the form of Basic Attention Tokens or “BAT”). To learn more, see our support article on how to become a Verified Creator.
You can only send contributions to “Verified Creators”. Verified Creators are sites or channels that have registered with Brave Creators and have completed the steps to be eligible to receive contributions from users.
In some cases, a Verified Creator may still be unable to receive contributions from you. This can happen because there is no available contribution method between you and the Verified Creator (for example, because the Verified Creator isn’t set up to receive contributions from the custodial account provider you use). The Brave Rewards interface will indicate whether a contribution to a website or channel is possible.
Previous versions of Brave
Previously, when a website or channel could not receive a contribution from a user (either because the creator was not a Verified Creator, or because there was no available contribution method), the Brave browser would set up a “pending contribution” that would retry automatically for 90 days. If within the 90 day period the browser detected that the pending contribution could be made to the creator, then it would be processed. No balance was ever deducted from the user until the contribution was actually processed. A user could always cancel a pending contribution before 90 days had elapsed.
Before that (until version 0.58.21, released on January 11, 2019), browsers with Brave Rewards enabled could contribute BAT to websites and creators even if they were not registered with Brave Creators. Brave would then hold contributed funds for those creators in escrow until the creator had registered with Brave Creators.
General
Brave Software is a privately held, for-profit company. We generate revenue in several ways, including:
- The sale of New Tab Takeovers, Brave Search Ads, and other Brave Ads (the first-party ad units that users opt into via our privacy-preserving ad platform). Note that opted-in users receive 70% of this ad revenue back in the form of BAT.
- Subscriptions to our premium products: Brave Firewall + VPN, Brave Talk Premium, Brave Leo Premium, and Brave Search Premium.
- A 1% fee on fiat-to-crypto transactions (through onramp partners) in Brave Wallet, and a nominal fee on creator tips and auto-contributions made via Brave Rewards.
- Subscriptions to our Search API.
- Partnership deals (for example with platforms integrated into the Brave browser).
For more information, check out Brave’s transparency report.
brave.com, basicattentiontoken.org, brave.io, bravesoftware.com and their subdomains. If you are asked to download Brave software or login to Brave on other sites, please beware that this could be a phishing attack. You can report Brave impersonators to security[at]brave.com.No, Chromium is not the same as Google Chrome.
Chromium is the open-source browser engine “…that aims to build a safer, faster, and more stable way for all users to experience the web.” This engine powers many of the world’s most popular browsers, such as Brave, but also Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, and Vivaldi.
Google Chrome, by contrast, is the Web browser built by Google.
Think of Chromium as a browsing foundation that anyone could build on. Brave takes this foundation and:
- Removes parts that could be harmful to user privacy or security
- Builds in new enhancements to privacy and performance
- Layers on unique features that create new ways to engage with content online
While Brave is based on the same Chromium source code as Chrome, Brave doesn’t make connections to Google in the background. We’ve disabled Google Accounts and Sync, and removed all Chrome-specific telemetry and reporting code. Without these protections, Chromium could be used to enable websites to use online tracking and surveillance; it’s these outbound connections to Google services (enabled in Google’s implementation of Chromium) that give Google information about your usage and browsing.
It’s common for browser vendors to build on a common foundation. For example, this is similar to how on iOS mobile devices, every browser is Safari based (due to Apple’s requirement that browser vendors must use WkWebView to build iOS mobile browsers), but the privacy, performance, and features of those browsers vary greatly.
Brave is formally a Chromium “fork,” and we now develop all releases of the Brave browser for Android and desktop on this open-source core. The Chromium engine leads to far fewer bugs (thanks in no small part to the fact that companies and developers around the world are contributing to this open-source project). Brave is among those contributing code upstream to the Chromium project. Brave also maintains adblock filters via the Easylist project, a list which many other open-source projects (including Chromium itself) use for ad filtering.
Chromium offers full support for desktop extensions, and has more frequent upgrades and better code-sharing between desktop and mobile versions. It is by far the best foundation on which Brave can build its privacy, security, performance, and custom-feature enhancements. Brave deviates from this open-source foundation in a number of key ways, which allows Brave to be user-first; offer far better privacy and performance; and introduce great custom features you won’t find in any other browser. There is no business relationship between Brave and Google, or between the Brave browser and Google Chrome.
FAQ Archive
As mentioned above, the browser knows almost everything you do. It knows what sites you visit, how much time you spend on them, what you look at, what is visible “above the fold” and not occluded by opaque layers, what searches you make, what groups of tabs you open while researching major purchases, etc.
Only the browser, after HTTPS terminates and secure pages are decrypted, has all of your private data needed to analyze user intent. Our auditable open source browser code protects this intent data on the client device. Our server side has no access to this data in the clear, nor does it have decryption keys. We do not run a MitM proxy or VPN service.
Updated 2022-06-23 — The paragraph below describes functionality that was never shipped and was never live to users. We’ve left it visible for the sake of transparency:
