LibreWolf vs Waterfox in 2026

LibreWolf and Waterfox are the two best-known Firefox forks for people who want Mozilla's engine without Mozilla's telemetry, and both score 5 for privacy. Both remove telemetry, sponsored content and remote experiments, both block ads out of the box, both ship no AI and score 1 for it, and both are fully open source. The difference is in how far each goes and how much comfort it keeps.

Strict versus comfortable

LibreWolf is the strict one. It ships uBlock Origin pre-installed and turns on Firefox's resist-fingerprinting mode, which spoofs your timezone, forces a light theme and fixes the window size so you look like every other LibreWolf user. WebGL and DRM are off by default. That buys strong fingerprinting resistance at a real cost: sites break more often, streaming services need DRM switched back on, and you will be making exceptions. It scores 3 for ease of use.

Waterfox is built to be lived in. Its own ad blocker has been on by default since May 2026, and container tabs are on from the start. It adds something LibreWolf does not have: DNS over Oblivious HTTP, on by default, which routes DNS lookups through a relay so no single party sees both who asked and what for. Waterfox leaves the settings that break sites alone, and scores 4 for ease of use. Waterfox also scores 5 for customizability against LibreWolf's 4, thanks to native tree-style vertical tabs and settings Firefox no longer shows.

Updates and platforms

The two follow Firefox differently. LibreWolf tracks the regular Firefox release and usually ships within three days of it, so you get new features and fixes quickly. On Windows and Linux it has no auto-updater, so you update through a package manager or by hand. Waterfox builds on Firefox ESR, currently the 153 platform, and its small team ships a security update every week or two. You get fewer new Firefox features, but things change less often.

Waterfox goes further on platforms and sync. It has an Android app, which LibreWolf does not; LibreWolf's FAQ says nobody is working on one. Waterfox syncs through a Mozilla account. LibreWolf supports Firefox Sync too, but it is off until you tick a box in settings.

LibreWolf and Waterfox both score 4 for extensions, and both install add-ons from Mozilla's add-on store. Waterfox can also install simpler extensions from the Chrome Web Store and Opera's add-on store.

Who is behind them

LibreWolf is a volunteer project with no company behind it and nothing to sell. Waterfox is run by its creator, Alex Kontos, through his company BrowserWorks. It was owned by the ad company System1 from 2019 until it went independent again in 2023, and it earns money through search partnerships. That has meant several changes to its default search engine on Android in 2026. When Mozilla began calling Firefox an AI browser, Kontos said Waterfox "will not include LLMs. Full stop."

Which should you choose?

Choose LibreWolf if you want the hardest privacy defaults in a Firefox fork, fingerprinting resistance included, and you browse on desktop and don't mind fixing sites that break. It suits people who would otherwise harden Firefox by hand.

Choose Waterfox if you want no telemetry and built-in blocking in a browser that behaves normally day to day, with Oblivious DNS, sync and an Android app. For most people leaving Firefox for privacy reasons, it is the easier one to live with.