Brave impressions

I tried version 1.67 of Brave on macOS.

What I liked

Ad and tracker blocking turned on by default.
Brave Search is pretty decent.

What I didn’t like

Start page and URL bar promote quite prominently an ad-viewing rewards program.
Figure 1: Brave’s start page showing the rewards promo.
Other parts of the UI promote an AI assistant, a crypto wallet, a VPN, a video-conferencing product, an ad-supported news feed… I think they’re only missing a shopping feature like Edge’s. 😬
Figure 2: Brave’s AI assistant and crypto wallet promos.

Business model

They explain how they make money in their FAQ: How does Brave make money?

Sale of start page takeovers and Brave Ads.
Subscriptions to Brave Firewall + VPN and Brave Talk Premium.
Transaction fees in Brave Wallet and Brave Rewards.
Partner deals. (They mention platform integrations, but don’t specify further.)