Brave

What Brave does

Brave Software, Inc. is an independent, privately-held company founded in 2015 by Brendan Eich (creator of JavaScript and co-founder of Mozilla) that builds a privacy-first Web platform centered on a Chromium-based browser (released under MPL 2.0) and an independent search engine backed by its own 30+ billion-page Web index. The company reports approximately 117.6 million monthly active users and 42 million daily active users as of late 2025, with nearly 20 billion annualized search queries, and is localized in roughly 160 languages. Core technology includes the adblock-rust engine (overhauled with FlatBuffers in January 2025 for a 75% memory reduction and now adopted by Firefox 149 and Waterfox), the Brave Search index with 100M+ daily page updates, the multi-LLM Leo AI assistant with cryptographically-verifiable deployment via NEAR AI Trusted Execution Environments, and a self-custody Wallet and BAT token economy for Web3 users.

The company operates a freemium model. The browser, Brave Search, Shields ad-blocker, basic Leo, Wallet, and Rewards are free; monetization comes from privacy-preserving Browser Ads and Search Ads (400% ad-revenue growth in 2025), recurring subscriptions for Firewall + VPN ($9.99/month, powered by Guardian with 300+ servers in 40+ regions), Leo AI Premium ($14.99/month), Search Premium ($3/month) and Talk Premium ($7/month), a $59.99 one-time Brave Origin license, usage-based fees on the Brave Search API ($5/1,000 Search requests, $4/1,000 Answers requests) distributed via AWS Marketplace and SOC 2 Type II attested, and BAT/Web3 transaction flow. Go-to-market is multi-channel: direct-to-consumer download, app-store and OS distribution, enterprise group-policy deployment, self-serve developer signup, an enterprise ad sales motion in the UK, France, and Germany, and a deep integration ecosystem across LangChain, LlamaIndex, CrewAI, Cursor, Snowflake, and Microsoft Power Platform. Advertiser and API customers include Amazon, Booking.com, Ford, eBay, Intuit, Toyota, Intel, Ubisoft, Cohere, Mistral, Shopify, Turnitin, and Chegg; major partners include Guardian (VPN infrastructure), NEAR AI (TEE), Mozilla (adblock-rust adoption), Unstoppable Domains (.brave), and Snowflake.

Name

Brave

Legal name

Brave Software, Inc.

Website

https://brave.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Brave Software builds a privacy-focused Chromium browser, an independent Web search engine with a 30+ billion-page index, and a privacy-first AI assistant (Leo) used by roughly 117.6M monthly active consumers, while monetizing via ads, premium subscriptions, a developer Search API, and Web3/BAT.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Privacy Web Browser

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192), Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Search Engines (BPAMAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Browser & Web Isolation Security (HDADAEAK)

Keywords

• Privacy web browser
• Independent search engine
• Search API platform
• Browser-based VPN
• Web3 ad rewards

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Brave Search Ads & Browser Ads: Privacy-preserving advertising sold through ads.brave.com. Search Ads use keyword targeting on the independent Brave Search index; Browser Ads include New Tab Takeovers and push-style Notification Ads. Reported to have grown 400% in revenue in 2025 and 1500% in click volume in 2024.
2. Brave Firewall + VPN subscription: Recurring subscription at $9.99/month or $99.99/year, 7-day free trial, covering up to 10 devices across Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows, powered by Guardian infrastructure.
3. Leo AI Premium subscription: Recurring subscription at $14.99/month or $149.99/year for access to industry-leading LLMs (Claude, etc.), higher rate limits, and early access to new features.
4. Search Premium subscription: Recurring subscription at $3.00/month or $29.99/year for ad-free Brave Search results that financially supports the independent index.
5. Talk Premium subscription: Recurring subscription at $7.00/month or $69.99/year for Brave Talk private video calls, with call recordings, moderator controls, and Groupwatch for YouTube.
6. Brave Origin one-time license: $59.99 one-time purchase for a minimalist browser build, redeemable as a standalone install or as an upgrade to existing Brave installations, with rate-limited multi-device activation managed via Privacy Pass-style blind tokens.
7. Brave Search API usage fees: Usage-based API monetization at $5 per 1,000 Search requests and $4 per 1,000 Answers requests (plus $5 per million tokens), with $5/month free credits, AWS Marketplace distribution, SOC 2 Type II attestation, and a Zero Data Retention enterprise tier.
8. BAT / Web3 ecosystem monetization: Basic Attention Token (BAT) opt-in rewards: users earn BAT for viewing privacy-preserving ads and tip creators; merchants pay in BAT for campaigns, .brave domain mints, and metaverse activations (Ubisoft, Decentraland).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels11 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Brave Software develops and distributes the Brave Browser, a privacy-first Chromium-based web browser available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS with default-on ad, tracker, and fingerprint blocking (Brave Shields). It also operates the independent Brave Search engine (30+ billion pages indexed, ~2 billion monthly queries) and the commercially licensed Brave Search API used by developers and AI platforms, alongside premium subscriptions (Firewall + VPN, Leo AI, Search, Talk) and the Brave Ads platform for advertisers.

Product overview

Brave offers a privacy-first Web platform centered on the open-source Chromium-based Brave Browser (available on desktop and mobile) and tightly integrated with the independent Brave Search engine, the AI assistant Brave Leo with its Leo Agentic browsing mode, the Ask Brave search-AI chat, and the developer-facing Brave Search API (Web, LLM Context, Answers, Image, Video, News, Place Search endpoints with an MCP server and Zero Data Retention). Surrounding the browser and search core are user-facing modules such as Brave Shields (ad/tracker/fingerprint blocking), Brave Firewall + VPN (powered by Guardian), Brave Rewards / BAT and Brave Wallet, Brave Talk, Brave News, Brave Playlist, Brave Translate, Speedreader, and Brave Sync, plus the paid minimalist variant Brave Origin. On the business side, the platform extends to a privacy-first ad business (Brave Ads, including Browser Ads and Search Ads) and Web3 initiatives like Brave Games, all unified by Brave Software Inc.'s privacy-by-default product philosophy and its open-source Chromium code base.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Brave Browser: Privacy-focused web browser built on Chromium with built-in ad/tracker blocking (Shields), available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
• Brave Search
• Brave Leo
• Brave Origin
• Brave Firewall + VPN
• Brave Rewards
• Brave Wallet
• Brave Talk
• Brave Ads
• Brave Search API
• Basic Attention Token (BAT)
• Ask Brave

Products and services

• Brave Browser Privacy-focused Chromium-based web browser with built-in ad, tracker, cookie, and fingerprinting blocking via Brave Shields, available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, with extensions, sync, vertical tabs, and ~100M+ monthly active users as of September 2025.
• Brave Search Independent, privacy-first search engine with Brave's own index of 30+ billion pages refreshed daily, Goggles re-ranking, AI-powered answers, the Web Discovery Project, and Ask Brave chat mode. Default in the Brave browser and available at search.brave.com.
• Brave Search API Developer API over Brave's independent 30+ billion-page index, offering Web, LLM Context, Answers, Image, Video, News, Suggest, Spellcheck, and Place Search endpoints, plus an MCP server, with $5 per 1,000 Search requests and $4 per 1,000 Answers requests, $5/month free credits, SOC 2 Type II attestation, and a Zero Data Retention option for enterprise compliance.
• Brave Firewall + VPN
• Brave Origin Paid, minimalist variant of the Brave browser that compiles out Leo, News, Playlist, Rewards, VPN, Wallet, Tor, and most other features while retaining Shields privacy protection, sold as a one-time $59.99 license (free on Linux) available as a standalone install or upgrade, with up to 10 device activations managed via Privacy Pass-style blind tokens.
• Brave Ads (Browser Ads and Search Ads)

Quantifiable outcome

• 117.6 million monthly active users; 42 million daily active users
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers39 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration28 records

AI capability17 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

31 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• The Digital Voice PR agencycoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 9 June 2026The Digital Voice was appointed as agency of record for Brave Browser & Search Engine, providing B2B PR amplification in the adtech/martech sector alongside operations in the UK, US, France, and Spain.
• Mozilla (Firefox)flagshipOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 24 April 2026Firefox 149 integrated Brave's adblock-rust engine as a prototype content blocker (Mozilla Bug 2013888, led by engineer Benjamin VanderSloot), signaling industry adoption of Brave's native blocking technology. Waterfox has also adopted the engine.
• SnowflakeflagshipTechnology or Integration · 3 February 2026Brave Search API is integrated into Snowflake's Cortex Code AI coding agent and Cortex Agents, enabling agentic Web search for enterprise data workflows. Announced at Snowflake BUILD London 2026. Early customers include dentsu, LendingTree, and United Rentals.
• Vercel (v0)coreTechnology or Integration · 3 February 2026Co-announced with Snowflake's Cortex Code launch as an integration partner, enabling vibe-coding workflows. Relationship is Mutual.
• FanoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 January 2026Co-developer of the multi-week "Brave Games" reality-style vault heist competition launching February 2026, expanding the BAT ecosystem through gamified Web3 community engagement.
• Midnight NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 January 2026Co-developer of Brave Games alongside Fanon and Mythical Games.
• Mythical GamescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 January 2026Co-developer of Brave Games alongside Fanon and Midnight Network.
• NEAR Foundation (Private Chat)coreTechnology or Integration · 3 December 2025NEAR AI Cloud and Private Chat, which use confidential computing, were adopted by Brave alongside Phala and OpenMind. Relationship is Them to Us — NEAR provides TEE infrastructure to Brave Leo.
• NEAR AIflagshipTechnology or Integration · 20 November 2025NEAR AI provides Trusted Execution Environments (backed by Nvidia GPUs) to run Brave Leo LLMs (DeepSeek V3.1 first) with cryptographically-verifiable privacy. The integration is available in Brave Nightly and supports confidential computing attestation for AI chats. Relationship is Mutual — Brave distributes confidential AI through NEAR's TEE platform.
• Perplexity AI (acquisition discussions)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 13 August 2025Perplexity engaged in acquisition discussions with The Browser Co. and Brave in mid-2025 but failed to finalize a deal; DuckDuckGo was also approached. Reported in Daring Fireball, Aug 13, 2025.
• Unstoppable DomainscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 August 2025Over 8,500 .brave domains have been minted via Unstoppable Domains, integrating Web3 identity into the BAT ecosystem.
• AWS MarketplaceflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 16 July 2025Brave Search API is listed in the AWS Marketplace AI Agents and Tools category, enabling enterprise procurement and deployment.
• UbisoftcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 July 2025Co-hosted BAT Rewards events with Brave, and is a Brave Ads advertiser (Browser and Search).
• DecentralandcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 July 2025Co-hosted Brave Rewards events across multiple platforms, expanding BAT utility into the metaverse.
• GuardianflagshipTechnology or Integration · 1 February 2024Guardian powers the entire Brave Firewall + VPN infrastructure, providing 300+ servers in 40+ regions. The no-logs policy, privacy-preserving login, and independent software (assured.se, Feb 2024) and infrastructure audits (Apr 2024) are co-branded with Guardian. Relationship is Them to Us — Guardian provides the VPN backbone to Brave.
• LangChaincoreTechnology or IntegrationLangChain's Python framework provides official Brave Search integration via the brave_search tool, listed in Brave's developer tools & integrations catalog.
• LlamaIndexcoreTechnology or IntegrationLlamaIndex (data framework for LLM apps) lists Brave Search as an integration in Brave's developer tools catalog.
• CrewAIcoreTechnology or IntegrationCrewAI lists the BraveSearchTool in its docs, enabling autonomous agent research workflows.
• CursorcoreTechnology or IntegrationCursor (AI code editor) integrates Brave Search via the Model Context Protocol.
• DifycoreTechnology or IntegrationDify (open-source LLM app development platform) provides first-class Brave Search integration.
• n8ncoreTechnology or Integrationn8n (workflow automation) has an official Brave Search community node for Data for AI plans.
• FlowisecoreTechnology or IntegrationFlowise (low-code LLM app builder) provides a Brave Search API integration.
• Windsurf (Codeium)coreTechnology or IntegrationWindsurf (AI coding assistant) integrates Brave Search, listed in Brave's developer tools catalog.
• ZedcoreTechnology or IntegrationZed (next-generation code editor) supports Brave Search via extensions.
• ClinecoreTechnology or IntegrationCline (autonomous coding agent for VS Code) integrates Brave Search.
• BoltAIcoreTechnology or IntegrationBoltAI (Mac AI chat app) provides a Brave Search plugin.
• Microsoft Power PlatformcoreTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft Power Platform provides a Brave Search connector for low-code apps and workflows.
• KirocoreTechnology or IntegrationKiro provides a Web Search MCP server for accessing Brave Search API results.
• STEPNminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-marketing via a STEPN GMT Pay Raffle tied to BAT Rewards, announced in the July 2025 Brave Rewards 3.0 Partner Program update.
• GuanoCoin (BAT Cave)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGuanoCoin's BAT Cave grew to over 250,000 BAT locked, deepening BAT utility through the Brave Rewards 3.0 Partner Program.
• GolfNminorGTM or Marketing PartnerUpcoming GolfN merchandise capsule launch announced in the Brave Rewards 3.0 Partner Program.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Emerging players

• Ecosia: Privacy-respecting, climate-focused search engine built on Bing/Web-index hybrids; competes with Brave Search for values-driven users and is a comparable independent alternative in the same privacy/ESG messaging lane.
• Vivaldi: Independent, Chromium-based browser emphasizing power-user customization and privacy; smaller scale than Brave but directly comparable in targeting tech-savvy, privacy-conscious users who reject Chrome defaults.
• Kagi: Paid, ad-free search engine positioned as a privacy-respecting premium alternative; competes with Brave Search Premium for paying users, and is itself a Brave Search API customer/integrator, creating both a partnership and partial competitive overlap.
• Perplexity AI: AI-native answer engine that uses Brave Search among other indexes for grounding; a partial competitor (conversational answers vs. SERP) and a strategic counterpart in the failed 2025 acquisition discussions, making it a key reference peer for Brave's AI-search direction.

Broad incumbents

• Microsoft Edge: Chromium-based browser bundled with Windows and Bing; competes with Brave on default-distribution and AI-powered browsing (Copilot) and, via Bing, in the search layer that Brave's independent index directly replaces.
• Google (Chrome and Search): Dominant incumbent in both browsers (Chrome ~66-67% global share) and search; controls the Chromium base Brave builds on, and is the primary competitor Brave is positioned against in privacy, performance, and ad targeting.

Direct peers

• Mozilla Firefox: Open-source, privacy-focused web browser built on a different engine (Gecko) and a non-profit foundation; competes with Brave Browser for the same privacy-conscious user base, and has now adopted Brave's adblock-rust engine as a content blocker, making the technical and competitive overlap very direct.
• DuckDuckGo: Privacy-respecting search engine and browser that, like Brave, blocks trackers and serves an independent SERP; it historically relied on Bing results (vs. Brave's fully independent index), positioning it as the closest head-to-head rival in privacy search.
• The Browser Company (Arc): Independent Chromium-based browser company (Arc, Dia) that competes for the same privacy- and productivity-minded power users; Perplexity's reported acquisition discussions with both companies highlight their comparable strategic profile.
• Opera: Long-standing independent Chromium-based browser with built-in VPN, ad blocker, AI assistant (Aria), and a crypto wallet; overlaps almost line-for-line with Brave's product surface and is one of the only scaled independent browser peers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/brave
• GitHubgithub.com/brave
• YouTubeyoutube.com/bravesoftware
• Facebookfacebook.com/bravesoftware
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brave-software-inc-

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors19 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brave