I’ve tried Firefox a few times over the years, but it’s never quite stuck. Something was always a bit off—some lag or feature that didn’t flow as nicely as Chromium-based browsers. I loved the look of Arc and its user experience, especially how its workspaces are designed, but unfortunately, Arc isn’t available on Linux.

Lately, I’d been looking at other browsers because I wasn’t keen on sticking with Brave long-term. Also it’s based on Chrome, which has its own issues, and Brave itself has had a lot of ups and downs. I also feel it might suffer from enshittification soon enough.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I took the plunge with Zen Browser. It’s based on Firefox but has a fresh, customizable feel that makes it feel like I’m not losing out on too much from Chromium. Zen has also had a lot of major updates recently, and the roadmap looks even more promising!

Here are the Zen Browser specific mods that really made this experience for me:

• Zen Back Forward - Minor tweaks, but it smooths out navigation.
• Floating Find Bar - Makes finding text on the page a more seamless experience.
• Floating Status Bar - A cleaner status bar that blends into the browsing experience.
• SuperPins - Major customization! Allows more control over pinned tabs.
• Super URL Bar - Adjusts the URL bar look depending on the theme.
• Super Sleek UI - Just a small touch for a streamlined interface.
• Floating URLbar - A big one, making the URL bar less intrusive.

My SuperPins Settings

• Enable: Yes
• Increase the height of pinned tabs
• Decrease the gap between pinned tabs
• Make the colors of pinned tabs pop

The “ChatBot” feature in Zen Browser is simply another search engine you can add in settings, using this query: https://chat.openai.com/?q=s. It’s about as close as you can get to Arc’s “Ask ChatGPT” without making a Zen Mod—although.

It’s also great to see u/maubg being so active and responsive in the Zen Browser subreddit.

In summary, I give Zen Browser 5 out of 5 Firefox foxes! 🦊🦊🦊🦊🦊