Short answer: choose Firefox if you want tracker blocking switched on from the start, a browser not made by Google, or the full uBlock Origin ad blocker, which Chrome can no longer run. Choose Chrome if you live in Google’s services, rely on extensions from the Chrome Web Store, or want one browser that syncs across Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPhone and iPad with your Google Account.
Get Chrome for Windows or Mac. Both pages link to Google’s official download.
Privacy out of the box
Firefox blocks trackers automatically and protects your privacy by default, according to Mozilla’s Firefox features page. Its Total Cookie Protection keeps cookies from following you from one site to another.
Chrome asks you to choose. Google’s cookie help says you can allow or block third-party cookies in Settings > Privacy and security > Third-party cookies, and that Incognito blocks them by default. Chrome’s Safe Browsing Standard protection is on by default and warns you about sites, downloads and extensions known to be dangerous. Our guide to Chrome’s privacy settings covers the rest.
Extensions and ad blocking
This is the biggest practical difference. Chrome has finished moving to a newer extension system called Manifest V3: Google’s Manifest V2 timeline says older Manifest V2 extensions are disabled in Chrome and have been removed from the Chrome Web Store. The original uBlock Origin was one of them.
- In Firefox, the full uBlock Origin is still listed on Firefox Add-ons and still being updated.
- In Chrome, the closest choice is uBlock Origin Lite, from the same developer, built for Manifest V3. See our ad blockers for Chrome for others that are live in the store.
For everything else, Firefox extensions come from its own add-ons site, not the Chrome Web Store, so check that the ones you rely on exist there before you switch.
Sync
- Chrome: when you sign in to Chrome with your Google Account, you get your bookmarks, passwords and more on all your devices, and you can be signed in to Gmail, YouTube and other Google services automatically.
- Firefox: Firefox sync uses a free Mozilla account for bookmarks, history and saved passwords. Mozilla says the data is encrypted on its servers so it can’t read it. Send Tab moves a page from one device to another.
Tabs and memory
Both browsers have tab groups. In Chrome, tab groups sync across your devices when you’re signed in, and split view shows two tabs side by side. Neither Google nor Mozilla publishes a head-to-head memory test, and real memory use depends mostly on how many tabs and extensions you have open. If Chrome feels heavy, turn on Memory Saver in Settings > Performance; it deactivates tabs you aren’t using and reloads them when you go back.
Moving your bookmarks from Firefox to Chrome
Google’s import help says to export your bookmarks from Firefox as an HTML file first, then in Chrome:
- Select the three-dot More menu > Bookmarks and lists > Import bookmarks and settings.
- Select Choose file, pick the HTML file and select Open, then Done.
Comparing Safari and Edge as well? See Chrome vs Safari vs Firefox vs Edge.