Brave has crossed a major milestone in its journey as a privacy-first web browser. The company announced that Brave Browser has reached 101 million monthly active users and 42 million daily active users this September, marking a record high since its launch.
Brave’s ecosystem is not limited to the browser. Brave Search, which launched in 2021, is also seeing strong growth. According to the company, Brave Search now handles 1.6 billion search queries per month and about 20 billion per year. Interestingly, not all of these searches are from Brave Browser. Around 8% of queries come from Chrome users. It shows that Brave Search has managed to attract users outside of its own platform.
Brave Browser was first released in 2016 by Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript and former Mozilla CEO. From the beginning, it was designed to stand apart from Big Tech browsers by prioritizing user privacy. It blocks ads and trackers by default, which improves both speed and security. The browser also integrates cryptocurrency features, adding another layer of differentiation.
Brave’s growth story is impressive. In 2020, it had 24 million active users, which doubled to 50 million by 2021. Now, in 2024, it has crossed the 100 million mark. Over the last two years, Brave has been adding roughly 2.5 million new users every month, a rate faster than many competing browsers.
One reason for Brave’s rapid adoption is the Digital Markets Act (DMA), a regulation in the European Union that came into effect in 2023. The DMA forces large “gatekeeper” companies to provide users with alternatives to their own default apps. For Apple, this meant introducing browser choices with iOS 17.4 in March 2024. Reports suggest that this regulation boosted Brave installs on iOS devices in Europe by 50%.
Brave’s CEO Brendan Eich described the achievement as more than just numbers. “100 million users represent more than a growth milestone—they constitute a movement for a better Web that puts users first,” Eich said. He added that users worldwide are increasingly choosing privacy and control over Big Tech’s tracking-driven models.
Beyond browsing and search, Brave has also expanded into AI features. Its AI summarizer, now branded as AI Answers, generates around 15 million responses every day. The company recently launched Ask Brave, which combines traditional search with LLM-powered chat, giving users another privacy-conscious alternative to mainstream AI systems.
Brave’s rise from 24 million users in 2020 to 101 million in 2024 is nothing short of remarkable.
