We advise our clients to remove Google Chrome and stop using Google Search. Google is an advertising company, and what you give its free services is not private. We explained why in Google Chrome and your business privacy and choosing a private search engine.
The next question is always: “So what do we use instead, and how much disruption will it cause?” Our answer is Brave as the everyday browser, Firefox as the alternative, and Brave Search. For most offices the switch takes an afternoon, not a project.
What we recommend, and why
Brave, for everyday browsing
Brave blocks trackers, cross-site cookies, fingerprinting (identifying you from your device’s settings) and third-party ads by default, through Brave Shields. Nothing needs to be installed or configured to get that protection.
It is also familiar. According to Brave, the desktop browser is built on Chromium, the open-source engine underneath Chrome, so websites behave the same and Chrome extensions work. Staff who know Chrome find their way around in minutes.
Firefox, as the alternative
Firefox is made by Mozilla and runs on its own engine, Gecko, rather than Chromium. That difference matters. Mozilla points out that as of 2026 only three major browser engines remain: Apple’s WebKit, Google’s Blink (the heart of Chromium) and Gecko. When almost every browser shares one engine, one company’s decisions shape how the web works for everyone, and a single engine flaw can touch nearly every browser at once. Keeping a second engine in the building is sensible insurance.
Firefox’s privacy defaults are solid. Its Enhanced Tracking Protection, on its default Standard setting, blocks known social media trackers, cross-site tracking cookies, cryptominers (scripts that use your computer to mine digital currency) and known fingerprinters. Total Cookie Protection, also on by default, gives each website its own separate “cookie jar” so sites cannot read each other’s cookies.
Brave Search, for searching
Brave Search uses its own independent index of the web rather than renting results from Google or Microsoft, and Brave says it does not profile its users. It is the default in Brave for most new installations, and you can set it as the default in Firefox too.
Many people now ask an AI assistant instead of searching. We consider ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Claude good alternatives to Google Search, as long as your company uses business plans and staff do not paste confidential information into them. See AI search in 2026.
What about Mozilla’s 2025 terms change?
In February 2025, Mozilla introduced a Terms of Use for Firefox for the first time and updated its privacy notice. Some users read the new license wording as a claim over what they type. Two days later Mozilla revised it, saying the license exists only to operate Firefox and “does not give Mozilla any ownership” of your content.
Mozilla also dropped its blanket “we never sell your data” line. Its explanation: some privacy laws, such as California’s, define a “sale” broadly enough to cover the limited data it shares with partners for sponsored suggestions and New Tab ads, which it says is stripped of identifying details or aggregated. Mozilla states it does not sell or buy data about you “in the way that most people think”. A December 2025 update to the privacy notice added detail on these features. Our view: read it, then turn off the sponsored features, which is straightforward.
Which browser, when
- Brave for everyday use: strong blocking out of the box, and Chrome-compatible.
- Firefox when a website works better in it, when a staff member prefers it, or when you want a second engine for testing or as a fallback.
- Microsoft Edge for the web versions of Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams. Microsoft builds and tests its Microsoft 365 web apps with Edge, and they work better there. We recommend Microsoft 365 business plans for email and office; see Gmail for business.
Switching one computer
Brave
- Download Brave from brave.com and install it.
- From the menu choose Bookmarks, then Import bookmarks and settings, and pick Chrome (Brave’s instructions).
- If passwords do not come across, export them from Chrome to a file, import the file into Brave, then delete it.
- Hide Rewards (an optional ads-for-tokens program) and the crypto Wallet, and switch off Leo, Brave’s built-in AI assistant; our standard is to leave it off. Brave Search’s AI answers, the short summary at the top of results, are useful and we leave them on. Review the usage-ping options under Privacy and security.
- If a login or payment page misbehaves, turn Shields off for that one site from the icon in the address bar.
Firefox
- Download Firefox from firefox.com and install it.
- In Settings, under General, click Import Data and choose Chrome. Mozilla’s guide explains that on Windows, passwords may need to come across as an exported file.
- Set Brave Search as the default under Settings, Search.
- Under Home, turn off sponsored shortcuts and sponsored stories; in the address bar suggestions, turn off suggestions from sponsors.
- Under Privacy and Security, turn off Firefox data collection (telemetry, the usage data sent back to Mozilla).
- Since Firefox 148 (February 2026), a new AI controls section in Settings lets you block AI features, including the sidebar AI chatbot, with one switch.
Rolling it out across a business
Switching twenty computers by hand produces twenty slightly different setups. Both browsers are built to be managed centrally.
- Brave supports Chrome’s enterprise policies plus its own. Through Windows Group Policy or equivalents on Mac and Linux, an administrator can disable Rewards, the Wallet, the VPN, Tor and Leo, turn off usage statistics, and set the default search engine. For our clients, Leo is off and Brave Search stays the default, AI answers included.
- Firefox offers MSI installers and an Extended Support Release for businesses that prefer fewer feature changes. It reads enterprise policies from a policies.json file on Windows, Mac and Linux, or from Group Policy templates on Windows. Policies can disable telemetry, switch off sponsored content, and block AI features through the AIControls policy.
- Lock and update. Staff cannot change settings set by policy. Browsers are among the most exposed software on any computer, so updates should be automatic and monitored.
Where Google cannot be avoided
Android phones run on Google’s software, and some customers will insist on Google Docs or Meet. You can still limit what Google collects; see When you can’t cut the Google cord.
How FTI helps
For our managed IT clients, we roll out Brave, Firefox and Brave Search as a standard setup: Chrome removed, business-unfriendly features switched off by policy, Edge kept for Microsoft 365, and updates handled with the rest of your systems. Our help desk is there when a website needs adjusting.
