As web developers, we spend a lot of time in our browsers! Just looking at my CodeTime/RescueTime stats, I have well over 2500+ hrs looking at browser tabs in 2019. Yikes!

Constantly switching back and forth between tabs, windows, and Inspectors of various shapes and sizes can start to dull productivity.

When we use tools as much as our Browsers we do create a bit of a working relationship with them and over the years I've come to like a few a lot more than others (sorry, IE - looking at you here).

After 11+ years of front-end focused web development and seeing many co-workers gaze upon my screen only to ask "What... tool is THAT?!".

I thought I'd share some of the premium and free browsers I use on a regular basis. They have helped me turbo-charge my responsive web development pipeline and are chock-full of nifty features and functionality. With so many browsers out in the wild, all looking to be the go-to browser for developers make sure you give them all a try!

Here is a list of my favourite browsers built to enhance your every-day development or browser experience.

For Developers

Firefox Developer Edition - (Free)

What can I say, this is my go-to browser for development. Solid development experience with a growing tool-kit every day. Does require add-ons to help enhance the developer's experience out of the box. Amazing for accessibility-focused (WCAG/AODA) development.

Blisk - (Premium)

A Development browser built by developers, for developers. Synced browsing experience across devices and have multiple Inspector windows open for desktop/mobile at the same time. Yes, you heard me correctly.

Polypane - (Premium)

Polypane is a developer-focused browser that does responsive design really well. It's like having Re:emmt built right into your browser and has a slew of developer-friendly features that once you have them, you're surprised you've gone this long without!

For Power Users

Vivaldi

This is my default browser on all my PC's. Took the Vivaldi challenge and set it as default for a week and never looked back! Game Changer: hitting F2 brings up the Browser Command Palette - do everything from here. Yeah.

Brave

It's like Firefox but even more focused on Privacy, Ad Blocking and optimizing page-load times.

For Gamers

Opera GX

It's the beauty of Opera browser but slimmed down and optimized for when you're gaming and need all the resources possible, but still, need to look up that one...last...quest...

On Mobile

Opera Touch

The one-finger controls have made this my go-to default Browser on all my Android devices. Using Flow I can sync tabs across devices quickly and easily.

Firefox Focus

For when you need privacy out the gate, and don't want to clear that pesky history. Its Firefox but you're never logged into anything you need.

Noteworthy Mentions

Microsoft Edge

Yes, the newest build of the browser by Microsoft, is the noteworthy mention.

Having learned many lessons from the past (Internet Explorer...) and no longer looking to be the brunt of all web development jokes for eternity the MS team have really delivered a blazing fast browser experience for Windows 10 users. While it's no longer my default browser I constantly use it for Browser testing and it's legacy IE version emulation is solid.

And there you have it, let me know of any other browsers you think I should test out and add to the list.