Brave Browser Surpasses 100 Million Users With Surge in Privacy Tools

Brave Browser has crossed a major milestone with 101 million monthly active users, riding the wave of global demand for privacy-first online tools.

TLDR:

• Brave now serves 101 million monthly and 42 million daily active users, doubling in size since 2021
• Brave Search handles 1.6 billion queries monthly, with growing traffic from outside its own browser
• The browser’s AI tools are gaining momentum, generating 15 million answers daily
• Brave’s privacy features, crypto rewards, and ad-free ecosystem are helping it stand out in a Chrome-dominated market

What Happened?

Brave has officially joined the 100-million club, reporting 101 million monthly active users as of September. That’s a significant jump from 50 million just two years ago. Alongside this, Brave Search has grown to serve over 1.6 billion search queries per month, signaling growing interest in Big Tech alternatives.

The browser’s CEO and co-founder Brendan Eich called it more than a milestone, saying: “100 million users represent more than a growth milestone – they constitute a movement for a better Web that puts users first.”

@Brave passed 100M Monthly Active Users (MAU) in September 2025. DAU grew faster, past 42M.

Blog post at https://t.co/3RTZDUb6dE.

Brave Search at 1.66B Queries Per Month (QPM) annualizes to 19.49B QPY.

Non-Brave-browser search users grew 10% in September (7.60% → 8.36%).

1/4 https://t.co/ytt2GwHuvJ pic.twitter.com/FCPWgRXWEH

— BrendanEich (@BrendanEich) October 1, 2025

Brave’s Rise in a Competitive Browser Market

Brave Browser, launched in 2016 by Brendan Eich, has seen steady growth averaging 2.5 million new users every month over the past two years. This surge in users is largely fueled by increased awareness about online privacy and global regulations like the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

• The DMA forced Apple to introduce browser choice panels in Europe starting with iOS 17.4 in 2024.
• This led to a 50% increase in Brave installs on iOS across Europe.

Despite this momentum, Brave’s market share is still relatively small at 1.1% globally, far behind Google Chrome’s 65.93% share, which accounts for nearly 3.5 billion users worldwide.

Brave Search: A True Big Tech Alternative

Brave’s independent search engine is now one of only three independent search indexes in the western world, alongside Google and Bing. It processes:

• Over 1.6 billion search queries per month.
• 20 billion queries per year.
• 8% of those from Chrome and other browsers, not just Brave users.

Brave has integrated AI into its search with features like “AI Answers” and “Ask Brave”, which handle 15 million AI-generated answers every day.

Privacy and AI Tools Set Brave Apart

Brave’s entire ecosystem is centered around user privacy by default. The browser comes with Brave Shields, blocking:

• Ads and trackers.
• Cross-site cookies.
• Phishing and fingerprinting attempts.

Brave’s AI assistant Leo lets users pick from top-tier models like Claude, Llama, and DeepSeek, and operates entirely without logging user data. Users can even run local models for complete control and privacy.

Brave is also preparing to launch Leo Agentic, a smart assistant that can take actions like handling bookings and payments. This will be kept isolated in a dedicated browser profile, away from sensitive tabs or data.

Brave as a Business: Ads, VPN, and Web3

Brave is not just a browser. It’s also building a sustainable business around privacy:

• Brave Ads have been adopted by major brands like Amazon, Ford, and eBay, offering unique ad units without tracking users.
• Brave VPN has nearly 100,000 subscribers, providing encrypted browsing across up to 10 devices.
• Brave Wallet supports crypto and NFTs, and Brave Rewards allows users to earn BAT tokens for viewing ads.

The Brave Search API is powering external AI applications and chatbots with real-time search results, with free and affordable plans available for developers.

What TechKV Thinks?

I love seeing stories like this because they show how people are waking up to the value of privacy. Brave isn’t just another browser. It’s a complete ecosystem that lets you search, browse, and even chat with AI without giving up your personal data. While it’s still far behind Chrome in market share, Brave’s focus on trust and user control is paying off. The fact that it’s also building a strong business model around privacy, rather than surveillance, is refreshing in today’s ad-driven internet. More power to them.