The iOS App Store is filled with third-party browsers which are quite good. Some browsers make your browsing secure by stopping online trackers from tracking your browsing habit. Some offer an easy to use interface for fast web browsing, while others are lashed with a wide range of features coupled with a ton of customizations so that you can have a full-on web browsing experience. In a nutshell, the browser war had never been so cut-throat before. But just in case you seem a bit spoilt for choice and are unable to find the right browser that can cater to your needs, we’ve got you covered with the 15 best iPhone browsers you can use in 2020.

So, where does your priority lie? Is it having a pretty smooth web browsing? Or is it shielding your personal information while browsing the web anonymously? To make your job of finding a better browser a tad straightforward, we’ve divided this lineup into two sections. While the first one consists of overall highly-rated web browsers for iOS, the second one comprises the privacy-focused iPhone/iPad browsers. Oh yes, we’ve also picked out the ones that offer free VPN so that you can securely surf the web in public places. Now that you know what’s coming, let’s get started!

Google Chrome took the web by storm when it launched back in 2008 for the desktop. Since then, it has matured a lot and emerged as the most popular browser. If you swear by Google’s ecosystem, which most of us do, Chrome can sync all your bookmarks and history across all your devices. It can also sync your open tabs if you’re signed in using the same Google account on multiple devices, à la Safari hand-off. Chrome can also translate web pages on the fly, so you never have to worry about your foreign language anxiety (learning foreign languages can be cool, though!).

If you’re looking for a fast and no-nonsense alternate web browser for iOS, Google Chrome is a great option. The only feature I miss from Chrome on Android is the Data Saving Mode, which couldn’t be built into Chrome for iOS due to Apple’s restrictions. I also miss Reader mode from Safari/Firefox while browsing on Chrome.

Mozilla pioneered the web browser revolution even before Chrome arrived on the scene. Similar to Apple and Google, Firefox allows you to sync all your passwords, history, open tabs and bookmarks across all your devices with a Mozilla account. Firefox for iOS offers all the goodness from Firefox on the desktop, like private browsing and throws in some iOS-specific tricks.

If you use Firefox on the desktop, the decision to use it on iOS should be a cakewalk. Firefox’s privacy focused browser, Firefox Focus, is pretty barebones, though. The browser literally comprises of just an address bar, sans the history, bookmarks or even tabs. It is also slower than the regular Firefox browser — but such is the trade-off you’ve to make to put privacy first.

3. Opera Touch

While Opera Touch is nowhere near as feature-rich as Chrome or as efficient as Safari, it’s more than handy to let you browse faster. And that too without hogging a lot of resources, unlike Chrome. The app lets you search both using written text and voice. Times when you are on the go and don’t find it convenient to type text, the voice search can come into play in letting you search comfortably. Not to mention, it also has a pretty smart barcode scanning feature so that you can scan a barcode on a product and look it up online.

4. Safari

Safari may seem pretty obvious on this list, as it’s built into iOS. But make no mistake, Apple’s in-house browser is a very capable web browser, and can leverage some of the best features of the Apple ecosystem. For instance, iCloud keychain can store and sync passwords across all of your Apple devices to avoid the hassle of typing in your passwords every time. The stored passwords are protected with Touch/Face ID on the iPhone. If you own a Mac, the hand-off feature allows you to sync open tabs on iPhone and Mac, so that you can work seamlessly.

5. Microsoft Edge

If I were to pick a web browser that can take away the crown from Chrome or at least come very close to it, I would pick out Microsoft Edge. Powered by Chromium engine, Edge works pretty fast unlike before. Since it’s built on chromium, the Mac version supports  Chrome extensions which is awesome. It’s also highly customizable and super-fast. If you like to customize your web browsers for improved performance, you would really appreciate Microsoft’s web browser. For a personalized experience, the app automatically syncs all of your favorites, passwords, and saved data across devices to make your web browsing seamless.

Maxthon Cloud Web Browser app is a lightweight iPhone browser app with a ton of awesome features like a native ad-blocker, a note-taking tool, and more. Since it’s a cloud-based web browser, Maxthon lets you sync your data across both Apple as well as non-Apple devices. So yes, you can expect your data ready to be used at all times.

Some other noteworthy features of the browser include a night-mode for using the browser at night time and the ability to install extensions for increasing the productivity of the browser. The extensions center for Maxthon is filled with a ton of cool extensions that can help you make the most out of the browser.

Long time Android users might be familiar with Dolphin browser, as it was one of the first browsers to bring gesture-based navigation. The iOS counterpart is equally capable and brings a lot of features to the table. Perhaps its headline feature, Dolphin allows you to set custom gestures to open a certain website, or to manage other Dolphin-specific features.

If you like the idea of drawing “F” to open Facebook and if gestures are how you roll, you should definitely check out Dolphin browser. New users may feel a little overwhelmed on first use due to lots of features but you will get used to it pretty soon. After all, it has everything that you could ask for in a mobile browser.

If you are a privacy nerd who’s on the lookout for a web browser with built-in free unlimited VPN then Aloha Browser is the way to go. Yes, it’s a browser app that focuses on privacy and hides your footprint on the internet. As far as the user experience is concerned, the interface is pretty straightforward and it looks very similar to something like Google Chrome.

Download Aloha Browser (Free)

When you talk about the top-notch web browsers for iOS, missing out on an efficient web browser like Puffin Browser Pro wouldn’t be a good idea. Probably the best part about it is the ability to shift the workload from the resource-limited devices to cloud servers. As a result, even the most resource-hogging websites can run smoothly on your iPhone and iPad. In terms of security, the Puffin Browser provides strong encryption to all traffic from the app to the server to safeguard the data against hacking. What’s more, the app uses a proprietary compression algorithm to reduce up to 90% of your bandwidth on regular web browsing. So, unlike most other web browsers, it won’t gobble up a ton of mobile data on your iOS device.

Privacy-focused iPhone Browsers

All the above mentioned browsers are great when it comes to speed and usability, however, they are not the most private browsers. If you are someone who is worried about their online privacy and tired of getting tracked and served the same ads on every website, you can use the below mentioned privacy focuses best iPhone browsers to browse the net securely.

Brave browser is one of the best privacy focused browser on the market and it is also blazing fast. While most other browsers require you to configure settings or install third-party extensions to help protect your privacy, Brave does it all by default. It brings privacy and security features such as HTTPS Everywhere (encrypted data traffic), script blocking, cookie blocking, and private tabs. It also blocks ads, poop-up windows, and more. Since it doesn’t load all the scripts that show ads and track you, it even increases your browsing speed. This is one of the best iPhone browsers when it comes to privacy and you should definitely check it out.

If privacy sits right at the top of your agenda, look no further than DuckDuckGo. Yeah, you read that right! This privacy-focused web browser offers enhanced encryption so that your personal information will stay safeguarded against hacking or data trackers. By blocking all the hidden third-party trackers the app ensures your browsing session remains private and away from the eyes of data trackers. Moreover, DuckDuckGo also offers some cool customizations to let you accelerate browsing.

For private and secure web browsing, you can count on Private Browser. Featuring a minimal interface, it’s one of the fastest private browsers for iOS. As it also offers free unlimited VPN on your iPhone (a virtual private network), you can use the app to surf the web anonymously at public places. Furthermore, Private Browser doesn’t log any of your activity nor does it share it with third-parties. Therefore, you can browse the web with complete peace of mind. Long story short, the support for several servers around the world coupled with the reliable privacy policy makes it one of the best browser-cum-VPN for iPhone and iPad.

13. Ghostery Browser

Ghostery browser is a lightweight web-browser which blocks all social trackers, scripts, and other general trackers. The browser brings powerful ad blocking and tracker protection capabilities and will effectively protect you from getting tracked online. There is a Ghost mode which offers further privacy protection by preventing the websites you visit from appearing in your browser history. It is also very good at protecting users from phishing attacks. 

If you are looking for an unlimited private access to the internet, then Tor VPN browser is the way to go. It’s the only app in this list that features both VPN + TOR, and it lets you choose between the speed and ease of use of VPNs tunnel connection.

Besides an unlimited tunneled access to the internet over the tor network, this browser also detects and blocks pop-ups, automatically deletes cookies, cache and third-party data on application exit. It’s, however, worth pointing out that most of its features are hidden behind in-app purchases pay wall. But, it’s the price you’ll have to pay for a secure internet access.

Onion browser is also a free and open-source Tor-powered web browser for iOS. Just like Tor VPN Browser, Onion browser also lets you access the internet safely at no extra cost. Onion browser lets you access the internet over Tor and protects your privacy from website tracking.

Download Onion Browser (Free)