Firefox vs Puffin Browser (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Firefox: it is third in our ranking of browsers, and it grades higher too, 3.8 against 2.2.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Firefox grades higher on the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Firefox
Free, open-source browser from Mozilla with tracker blocking built in
Puffin Browser
Cloud-rendered browser that keeps Adobe Flash content working
Which one is for you
Pick Firefox if
- Fits if you want trackers blocked from day one without touching a setting
- Works for people who hop between Windows, Mac, Linux and a phone
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want the VPN on your phone, as the built-in one is desktop only for now
- Tight if you'd keep the VPN on all day, since it's capped at 50 GB a month and covers the browser only
- Pricey if you want a whole-device VPN, as Mozilla's separate service is $9.99 a month or $59.88 a year
- Watch out: the homepage shows ads to fund development until you switch them off
- Not for you if you're on Windows 8.1 or macOS 10.14 or older, which need Firefox ESR
Pick Puffin Browser if
- Fits if you have old Flash games or videos you still want to play
- Works for a phone you only need Puffin on now and then, since a day costs $0.05
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a normal everyday browser: the listing calls it a niche Flash browser
- Not for you if you want a free plan, because there is only a 7-day trial
- Watch out: Puffin is blocked in certain regions and some schools, per the listing
- Watch out: on iOS the vendor's listing calls the app a client for a cloud server, not a browser itself
- Tight if you want Windows or macOS pricing: only the Android listing showed prices
How we grade them
| 3.8GPAFirefoxExcellent | 2.2GPAPuffin BrowserFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree, with no paid tier at all. Mozilla sells a separate VPN service at $59.88 a year, but the browser is whole without it and nothing in it is held back for payers. | A$1 a month on Android, or $0.25 a week or $0.05 a day prepaid, well under the $4.20 that is 60% of this category's cheapest quarter. |
| Free plan and trial | AFree outright, with tracker blocking, end-to-end encrypted sync, the PDF editor, translation, and a VPN for 50 GB a month on the desktop. The Mozilla account sync needs is free, and the homepage ads can be switched off. | DThere is no free plan. The only try-out is Android's standard 7-day trial on the monthly subscription, which goes through Google Play. |
| Features | AIt covers the job on its own Gecko engine rather than Chromium. Known trackers blocked by default, each site's cookies kept apart, tab groups and vertical tabs, a sidebar where you pick ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Copilot, reader mode, PDF filling and signing, translation done on your machine. | DOne narrow job: it streams Flash content from servers and offers a virtual gamepad and trackpad. The listing says the engine cannot move to the latest Chromium. |
| Ease of use | B4.65 from about 218,000 App Store ratings, below the 4.8 at the top of this category. Nothing needs configuring: blocking is on from the start and the shield in the address bar shows what it caught. | CNo rating on record. Pages render in the cloud, and you may need to set streaming quality and image resolution to manage data use. |
| Platforms and integrations | AAll five: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone, with bookmarks, history, passwords and tabs synced end-to-end encrypted, and Send Tab to throw a page at another device. Only the built-in VPN is missing from the phone apps. | BAndroid, Windows and macOS are listed, so it spans a phone and computers, but the Windows and macOS prices were not shown. |
| Best for | a free browser that isn't built on Chromium | keeping old Flash content running from a phone |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Firefox and Puffin Browser. How we grade
Price against what you get
Firefox has no paid plan and scores 3.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Puffin Browser starts at $1 a month and scores 2.0.
Firefox scores higher and starts $1 a month lower. Of the other browsers on the chart, none scores higher than Firefox for less, and 23 score higher than Puffin Browser for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Firefox is open source and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Firefox also covers password manager.
- Puffin Browser also covers remote desktop.
At a glance
| Firefox | Puffin Browser | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free trial |
| Starts at | Free | $1 per month, or $0.25 per week prepaid |
| Free plan | The browser is free with no paid tier. The built-in VPN is free for up to 50 GB of browser traffic per month, and sync uses a free Mozilla account. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | 7-day free trial on the monthly subscription (Android) |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Mozilla Corporation | CloudMosa, Inc. |
| Price read from | firefox.com | play.google.com |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Firefox
- The built-in VPN is capped at 50 GB per month and protects browser traffic only. Mozilla's paid VPN service costs $59.88 per year or $9.99 per month, plus tax.
- Firefox shows optional ads on its homepage to fund development. They can be turned off.
- The built-in VPN has not reached Firefox for Android or iOS; Mozilla's roadmap lists VPN on mobile as upcoming work.
- Windows 8.1 and below and macOS 10.14 and below are no longer supported by the standard release; they need Firefox ESR.
Puffin Browser
- Prices were read from the Android Google Play listing; the Windows and macOS installers' pricing was not shown.
- The listing says the engine cannot move to the latest Chromium, so it is described as a niche Flash browser, not a general-purpose one.
- The listing says Puffin is blocked in certain regions (such as China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and some schools.
- The vendor's iOS listing says the app is a client for a cloud server, like a remote desktop client, and not a web browser itself.
Key features
Firefox
- Tracking and cookie protection
- Enhanced Tracking Protection blocks known trackers by default, and Total Cookie Protection keeps each site's cookies separate. The shield icon in the address bar shows what was blocked.
- Built-in VPN
- A VPN toggle in the desktop toolbar routes browser traffic through a proxy server to hide the IP address, free for up to 50 GB per month. It covers the browser only, not other apps on the device.
- Tab groups, vertical tabs and sidebar
- Tabs can be grouped and color coded or stacked vertically, and a customizable sidebar gives one-click access to bookmarks, history, synced tabs and other tools.
- AI chatbots in the sidebar
- The sidebar can host a third-party assistant such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude or Mistral Chat. AI features are optional and can be turned off entirely.
- Sync with a Mozilla account
- Bookmarks, history, saved passwords and open tabs sync across desktop and mobile with end-to-end encryption, and Send Tab pushes a page from one device to another.
- Reader mode, PDF editor and translation
- Reader mode strips clutter from articles, a built-in editor fills, signs and annotates PDFs, and pages are translated in the browser without sharing the data with anyone else.
Puffin Browser
- Adobe Flash support
- The Google Play listing calls this the legacy Puffin that keeps Flash content running in the cloud, where the page says Flash is streamed to your device.
- Cloud rendering
- Web pages run on Puffin's servers, so speed depends less on the device. The listing says servers are in the US and Singapore.
- Virtual trackpad and gamepad
- An on-screen gamepad can be configured so Flash games can be played from a phone, and a theater mode suits Flash videos.
- Data-use controls
- Streaming quality, image resolution and data compression can be adjusted to cut mobile data use.
- Desktop modes
- The Android listing lists desktop modes for a full web experience.
Plans
Firefox
Free$0
The full browser on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, including tracker blocking, sync and, on desktop, the built-in VPN up to 50 GB a month.
Puffin Browser
Monthly subscription$1
per month, Google Play, with 7-day free trial
Postpaid monthly plan for Puffin Flash Browser on Android; the trial is Android's standard 7-day one.
Weekly prepaid$0.25
per week, prepaid
Short-term prepaid access for people who only need Puffin occasionally.
Daily prepaid$0.05
per day, prepaid
One-day prepaid access, the lowest-commitment option on the Google Play listing.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Firefox or Puffin Browser?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Firefox is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $1 a month for Puffin Browser. Firefox is free, and Puffin Browser starts at $1 per month, or $0.25 per week prepaid.
Which has a free plan, Firefox or Puffin Browser?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Firefox has a free plan. Puffin Browser does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Firefox and Puffin Browser run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Firefox lists Linux and iOS apps. Both list macOS, Windows and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.