Brave, the independent browser that bills itself as a safer, faster, and more private alternative to Google Chrome, has officially crossed a major milestone: 100 million monthly active users worldwide.
The company confirmed that as of September 30, it now serves 101 million monthly and 42 million daily active users across desktop and mobile, marking steady momentum for the privacy-first platform.
“100 million users represent more than a growth milestone—they constitute a movement for a better Web that puts users first. Across the globe, users are choosing privacy and control over their online experience, instead of Big Tech’s tracking and abuse,” Brendan Eich, Brave’s CEO and co-founder, announced in a blog post on Tuesday.
From Underdog To Mainstream Player
Since 2021, Brave has more than doubled its user base, adding about 2.5 million people every month. The company credits this surge to rising awareness around online privacy, the appeal of faster browsing, and a series of privacy-friendly regulations in Europe.
After Apple introduced a new browser choice panel, following the implementation of the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) and release of iOS 17.4 in 2024, Brave reported a spike of up to 50% spike in iOS installs across the region.
Built on Chromium for full compatibility with Chrome extensions, Brave differentiates itself by blocking ads and trackers by default, which preserves users’ privacy, and offering what it claims is browsing “up to three times faster” than competitors.
Brave Search Hits 20 Billion Annual Queries
Alongside its browser, Brave Search — launched in 2021 — has grown into one of the few independent search engines outside Big Tech. It now handles 1.6 billion monthly queries, totalling nearly 20 billion queries a year. Notably, about 8% of these total daily queries come from non-Brave browsers such as Chrome.
Brave Search also delivers more than 15 million AI-generated answers daily through its new Ask Brave chat tool. This recently launched Ask Brave feature blends traditional search with conversational AI, providing direct answers without compromising privacy.
Expanding Into AI And Beyond
Brave has been steadily building an ecosystem around privacy, including Brave Shields (built-in tracker and ad blocking), Brave VPN, and Brave Wallet for crypto transactions. Further, Brave Leo, the integrated AI assistant in the browser, offers users access to multiple AI models while keeping conversations private and device-stored.
Looking ahead, Brave plans to roll out an “agentic” version of Leo capable of performing tasks on the user’s behalf, such as drafting messages, responding, handling payments and bookings, and more, all while keeping user data secure.
The Road Ahead
Despite its achievements, Brave remains a challenger in a market dominated by Google Chrome, which boasts over 3.5 billion users worldwide. Brave currently holds about 1.1% of the global browser market share, according to Cloudflare Radar.
Brave sees the milestone as proof of a growing shift toward privacy-first alternatives. “Every product we’ve launched since our browser—our search engine, our premium products, our ad platform—has been built with privacy protections,” Eich added. “As we expand our AI offerings, we will continue to design for privacy-by-default, which will fuel our next wave of growth.”
With momentum on its side and AI features expanding, Brave is positioning itself not just as an alternative browser but as a full-fledged privacy-first platform for the internet’s future.
