# Brave

> Brave is a privacy-first technology company that makes a fast, open-source, Chromium-based web browser that blocks ads and trackers by default. Founded in 2015 by JavaScript creator Brendan Eich and engineer Brian Bondy, Brave has grown into a full privacy suite: an independent search engine (Brave Search), a built-in AI assistant (Leo), a Web3 crypto wallet, a VPN, and an opt-in advertising model powered by the Basic Attention Token (BAT) that pays users and creators. In 2025 the browser passed 100 million monthly active users.

- **Founded:** 2015
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Founders:** Brendan Eich (Co-Founder & CEO), Brian Bondy (Co-Founder & CTO)
- **Team size:** Approximately 340 employees
- **Products:** Brave Browser, Brave Search, Leo AI, Brave Wallet, Brave VPN & Firewall
- **Notable:** Surpassed 100 million monthly active users in September 2025, reaching ~101M (and ~42M daily active users)., Built one of the few truly independent, global-scale web search indexes outside Big Tech., Raised $35 million in its 2017 BAT token sale in under 30 seconds.

## Products & services

- **Brave Browser** — A fast, open-source, Chromium-based browser that blocks ads, trackers, and fingerprinting by default via its built-in Brave Shields, available on desktop, Android, and iOS.
- **Brave Search** — An independent, privacy-preserving search engine built on its own web index, with an AI answer engine and Goggles for custom result ranking. Serves more than 1.6 billion queries a month.
- **Leo AI** — A built-in, privacy-respecting AI assistant that summarizes pages, answers questions, and translates without recording, sharing, or training on user chats. A premium tier adds more models and capacity.
- **Brave Wallet** — A native, self-custody Web3 crypto wallet built into the browser, supporting Ethereum, Solana, BNB Chain and more, plus NFTs and cross-chain bridging.
- **Brave VPN & Firewall** — A device-wide VPN and firewall with hundreds of servers and city-level selection, offered as a paid subscription.
- **Brave Rewards / BAT** — An opt-in advertising system that shows privacy-preserving ads and rewards users with Basic Attention Token (BAT), which can be used to tip creators.
- **Brave Talk** — Private, browser-based video conferencing with Leo-powered meeting summaries and notes.
- **Brave Origin** — A paid, stripped-down browser (launched 2026) that keeps Brave Shields and Chromium security patches while removing Leo, Wallet, Rewards, VPN, Tor and other add-ons - aimed at minimalists and enterprises.
- **Brave Search API** — A commercial API that lets developers and AI companies query Brave's independent search index.

## Achievements

- Surpassed 100 million monthly active users in September 2025, reaching ~101M (and ~42M daily active users).
- Built one of the few truly independent, global-scale web search indexes outside Big Tech.
- Raised $35 million in its 2017 BAT token sale in under 30 seconds.
- Brave Search reached more than 1.6 billion queries per month and serves over 15 million AI-generated answers daily.
- Co-founded and led by Brendan Eich, the creator of JavaScript and a co-founder of Mozilla.
- Pages load roughly 2-3x faster than mainstream browsers thanks to default ad and tracker blocking.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Launched Brave Origin, a paid ($59.99 one-time, up to 10 devices) minimalist browser that keeps Brave Shields and Chromium security updates while removing Leo, Wallet, Rewards, VPN, Tor and other features; free on Linux and available through an enterprise portal.
- **2025-09** — Brave browser crossed 100 million monthly active users, reaching about 101M MAU and 42M DAU.
- **2025** — Brave Search expanded its AI answer engine to serve over 15 million AI-generated answers per day and added 'Ask Brave,' blending traditional search with conversational AI.

## Links

- Website: https://brave.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/brave-software
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/brave
- GitHub: https://github.com/brave
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/bravesoftware
- Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/brave.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bravesoftware/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BraveSoftware/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/brave
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-15