What is Waterfox?

Waterfox is a web browser based on Mozilla Firefox. It uses the same Gecko browser engine, so websites generally behave much like they do in Firefox, but Waterfox focuses more heavily on customization, user choice and reducing some of Mozilla’s built-in services.

It originally became popular as a 64-bit alternative to Firefox, but today it is better thought of as an independent Firefox-based browser for people who want something familiar without using standard Firefox.

Pros

• Firefox compatibility – Most Firefox extensions and themes work normally.

• Good customization – Waterfox retains or restores several interface customization options that Firefox has changed or removed over the years.

• Privacy focused – It removes or disables some telemetry and integrations found in regular Firefox.

• Independent alternative – You still get the Gecko engine without being tied entirely to Mozilla's default browser experience.

• Open source – Much of the project can be inspected and contributed to by the community.

Cons

• Smaller development team – Updates and fixes may not always arrive as quickly as they do in Firefox.

• Smaller community – There is considerably less documentation and troubleshooting information available compared with Firefox, Chrome or Edge.

• Few unique performance advantages – Since it is based on Firefox, performance is generally similar rather than dramatically faster.

• Occasional compatibility quirks – Some Mozilla-specific services or newer Firefox features may behave differently or arrive later.

• Waterfox Classic should be avoided for normal browsing – The old Classic edition exists for legacy extensions and software, but Waterfox itself warns that it contains numerous unpatched security issues.

Bottom line

Waterfox is an interesting choice if you like Firefox and the Gecko engine but want more customization and fewer Mozilla services built into your browser. If you mainly want the fastest security updates and the largest support community, regular Firefox is probably the safer choice. If you enjoy tweaking your browser until every button sits exactly where you want it, Waterfox becomes much more appealing.