The best web browsers to try on iPhone

The best web browser for iPhone depends heavily on what you need. Apple’s own Safari comes with a lot out of the box and offers integration with other Apple devices in your life. The top competitors — Chrome, Edge and Firefox — are good choices if you need to sync with a Windows PC.

Other alternatives you may not have heard of can offer diverse benefits, though. Arc is a fast, modern browser built around search, and comes with built-in ad blockers. DuckDuckGo and Onion Browser lead the pack when it comes to privacy features. And if you want a bespoke app just to keep up with your favorite six or seven sites, TicciTabs was made for that exact purpose. There are even web browsers made for Apple Watch and for saving the environment.

Keep reading or watch our video.

The best web browsers for iPhone (that aren’t Safari or Chrome)

Every iPhone comes with Safari, Apple’s own web browser. Safari offers a plethora of features and tight integration with the Apple platform, so it’s handy if you have an iPad and Mac, too. It also boasts a pretty good track record for user privacy. Safari is what I use every day for general web browsing.

If you have a Windows PC and you want to sync your browsing history, bookmarks and data, your best options will be the iPhone versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge or Firefox.

Table of contents: Best alternative web browsers for iPhone

1. Best for blocking ads: Arc
2. Best for privacy: DuckDuckGo
3. Best for the environment: Ecosia
4. Best for your favorite few websites: Ticci Tabs
5. Best for Apple Watch: μBrowser
6. Best for Tor: OnionBrowser
7. Fastest web browser for iPhone
8. Desktop web browser for iPhone

Best iPhone browser for blocking ads: Arc

Arc is a completely new kind of browser.

The iPhone version puts a lot of emphasis on search. Ask it any question and it generates an AI summary based on information it finds on the web. Unlike tools like ChatGPT or Google search, it tells you exactly where it gets it information from so you can rely on it if you trust the sources. You can ask questions, get travel or activity recommendations, compare two things or ask for step-by-step directions.

It has a built-in content blocker that hides ads, tracking cookies and cookie banners, which can feel like a necessity on the modern web.

Arc integrates with your saved iCloud Passwords, so you don’t need to worry about digging through the Passwords app to sign in everywhere.

It automatically cleans up your searches and tabs after a day, so you don’t build up dozens of cluttered pages in the background.

It syncs with versions for Mac, iPad and Windows, too — with a version for Android in beta testing.

Price: Free
Get from: App Store

Best private iPhone browser: DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine, but the same company also makes a browser for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows and Android.

It’s closer to a traditional browser interface, but with all the privacy features turned on out of the box. It’s an invisible way to enjoy a safer and more private web. And it has a single button you can click to burn all the data you don’t want and start over.

It’s not trying to reinvent the wheel — it’s the same browser interface you’re used to, with more advanced privacy under the hood. Unlike other alternative browsers, DuckDuckGo isn’t simply a reskinning of the open-source version of Chrome; the app is bespoke.

Price: Free
Get from: App Store

Best iPhone browser for the environment: Ecosia

Ecosia follows in DuckDuckGo’s model but with a different goal — it’s trying to save the environment. The company that’s behind the Ecosia search engine and web browser dedicates 100% of its profits to climate action.

You can trust they’re walking the walk as much as they talk the talk, because Ecosia publishes updated financial reports every single month. It outlines exactly how much money was put towards trees and climate impact (42.5% of revenue in August 2024), how many trees were planted (1,110,759) and where (10 countries in South America, Africa and Asia). The company also generates solar power to offset the energy impacts of its software.

The Ecosia browser is based on the open-source code of Mozilla Firefox, so you might already be familiar with its interface. The desktop version, fittingly, features an energy saver mode — extending your battery life if you’re on the go.

Price: Free
Get from: App Store

Best browser for your favorite websites: Ticci Tabs

If you have a small collection of websites you like to manually check a few times a week, Ticci Tabs is a bespoke app just for that.

For example, if you like to browse web comics by going to the homepage of the sites you read, you can add them all to Ticci Tabs. You’ll have one app you can open and check everything without cluttering up your tabs in Safari. If you check tech news at Cult of Mac, The Verge, 404 Media and a couple other sites, add them to Ticci Tabs. It’s good for checking in on websites where the home page itself is the destination — an easy way to get the top news every once in a while.

If you need to sign into a website to access membership-exclusive content, it’s easy. You can open a site using a pasted link from your email. Although the browsing window is temporary, it’ll remember your credentials for next time.

Ticci Tabs won’t replace your regular browser — unless you literally only go to a small handful of select websites — but it’s a nice option to have if it suits your needs.

Price: Free
Get from: App Store

Best Apple Watch browser: μBrowser

Your Apple Watch can browse the web. You can open links people send you through Messages or in Mail … though there isn’t a Safari app you can open to browse the web yourself.

But others have stepped in. μBrowser is a simple web browser for Apple’s smallest screen. Type in or dictate a URL and it’ll go wherever you want on the web.

Zooming in and out is tricky — you have to rely on the double-tap gesture and hope for the best — but for reading, at least, you can access Reader mode by tapping on the titlebar. YouTube videos don’t play, either — not that you would want to on such a tiny screen.

You can pin websites as bookmarks and even make a complication you can launch from the watch face.

Price: $1.99
Get from: App Store

Best iPhone browser for Tor and the dark web: Onion Browser

Onion Browser is a different kind of web browser — it connects to Tor, a private relay network that masks your activity. This is the most secure and private way to connect to the internet for free. While it won’t run as fast as a paid VPN service, you get the same benefits: encrypted traffic that leaves a very hard footprint to follow.

It also lets you access the “dark web” — areas only accessible through Tor, not a regular browser. The name suggests it’s much more frightening than the reality — it’s mostly drugs, cryptocurrency and a lot of scams pretending to be the other two, and every site is really slow like it’s 2002 again.

But if you want to check it out, or at least keep your regular browsing activity private, Onion Browser is the best choice. It’s as easy to use as any regular browser with a dead-simple and intuitive user interface. It’s free and open-source, so people have verified the app doesn’t do anything shady.

Price: Free
Get from: App Store

What’s the fastest web browser for iPhone?

While there are a bunch of different apps you can try, all of them will browse the web equally as fast.

On the Mac and PC, different web browsers might use different code for loading and rendering a web page. Safari uses WebKit, Chrome and Edge both use Blink, Firefox uses Gecko. But on the iPhone and iPad, all web browsers use the same engine, WebKit.

Because of that, all web browsers on iPhone will work just as fast. Stick with the default, Safari, or pick one of the others from this list of you prefer their interface and features.

Price: Free
Get from: App Store

Best desktop browser for iPhone

Safari has a feature that lets you load the desktop version of a website, if the mobile version doesn’t work.

Tap the Page Menu button to the left and tap Request Desktop Website. (If you don’t see this option, tap ⋯ in the bottom-right and tap + to add it for easier access.) If that doesn’t work, tap the little A button in the page menu to zoom out.

Price: Free
Get from: App Store