The war between web browsers has only become stronger in the past years. Now, even when you narrow things down to a platform like Mac or PC, you have quite a few options. Mac may have a tough time choosing between Vivaldi and Safari. But which is the best browser out there?
In this guide, we will explain everything you need to know about Vivaldi vs Safari browser.
Vivaldi vs. Safari: The Best Choice
Vivaldi is the better choice if you need a customizable and security-friendly browsing experience on all platforms. Safari is better if you prioritize speed and performance over additional features. Both are great for Mac, though.
Vivaldi vs. Safari: the Basics
Vivaldi is a multi-platform web browser available for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. This privacy and productivity-focused web browser is packed with many utilities. Vivaldi claims to be the most flexible web browser as well. At first look, Vivaldi poses tight competition to Safari.
On the other hand, Safari browser is the official web browser for all Apple devices, including your Mac, iPad and iPhone. Even though the focus has changed quite a bit, the latest version of Safari offers incredible privacy and speed. It also offers some battery backup advantages when you use a Mac.
Now that I have told you the basics, we’ll learn how Vivaldi and Safari fare in some crucial respects.
User Interface and Customization
Vivaldi and Safari stand at the two extremes of the spectrum regarding UI design and customization.
Feature | Vivaldi | Safari |
|---|---|---|
Default UI Design | Highly customizable, versatile | Minimalistic and clean |
Sidebar | Fully customizable, includes bookmarks, notes, downloads | Bookmarks, Reading List, and History |
Address Bar | Customizable, with additional functionalities | Integrated with search, minimal features |
Themes | Extensive theme options, user-created themes | Limited (Light/Dark Mode) |
Toolbar Customization | Highly customizable (drag and drop elements) | Basic (can move and add buttons) |
Keyboard Shortcuts | Fully customizable shortcuts | Limited customization |
Mouse Gestures | Supported, customizable | Not supported |
Extensions | Supports Chrome extensions, wide range | Supports Safari extensions |
Vivaldi
Vivaldi is built from the ground with a focus on personalization and customization. It lets you create a browser that suits your needs and design preferences.
It is one reason Vivaldi calls itself the most flexible browser out there.
When you get started, Vivaldi has a rather simple UI itself. However, depending on the features you need, you can add multiple aspects to it. In any case, I would not say that Vivaldi has a minimal UI.
Let’s take the case of the toolbar, for instance. You have almost complete control over how the toolbar behaves on the Vivaldi browser. You also get to include additional features you may want to access through the toolbar. I have not seen this variety of customization options in any other browser.
You can go further in customization by exploring many Vivaldi themes from the official website. You can either go for some popular themes or get something that suits your needs. In any case, you can customize the elements within these themes.
The customization options within the Vivaldi Browser are not limited to appearance. Instead, you can create custom keyboard shortcuts regardless of the platform that you are working with. It could be a great option if you want to shift between platforms and retain your favorite keyboard shortcuts.
Overall, if I had to rate the UI and customization features on Vivaldi, I would give it a solid 4.5 out of 5. And I appreciate that I can keep the UI as minimal or complex as possible.
Safari
If you have used Apple products, you know customization is not their strongest suit. And it happens to be the same thing for the Safari browser.
For the most part, Safari offers a minimalistic interface from the start. You have the option to turn on or turn off the sidebar, but that is about it.
One thing I have noticed is that you do not have many extensions that can change the appearance of the browser. Instead, extensions work as mere extensions that bring an additional feature or two.
For example, Apple has included some additional tools to enhance your workflow. For instance, you can benefit from quick notes or translation, but that is where things mostly end. The rest of the browser’s focus is on security and continuity.
Safari does not support themes either. Instead, the only way to customize the Safari browser window on Mac is to change the new tab page or customize the toolbar. Then again, there are only a few limited extensions available.
The obvious benefit here is that you can easily get used to the user interface if you have used another Apple product in the past. Otherwise, you are stuck with the minimal UI itself. There is no way to enhance the UI or customize things to fit your needs.
Therefore, while I appreciate the minimal UI design, I would give Safari a 3 out of 5 with respect to its overall customizability.
Performance and Speed
A few things need to be made clear before we compare the speed and performance of Vivaldi and Safari.
- One, Safari is only available for Mac OS and iOS, whereas Vivaldi is available for Windows and Android as well.
- Two, Safari is highly optimized for Apple devices, especially the ones running Apple Silicon chips.
So, to have some kind of fairness in the comparison, we will take the case of Vivaldi and Safari only on Mac OS and iOS.
Here’s a quick look at the technical aspects of both to begin with:
Feature | Vivaldi | Safari |
|---|---|---|
Page Load Speed | Fast, varies with customization | Very fast, optimized for macOS |
Resource Usage | Higher resource usage | Efficient, low CPU and RAM usage |
Startup Time | Slower with many extensions | Quick |
Rendering Engine | Blink (Chromium-based) | WebKit |
JavaScript Perf. | High performance, can vary | Highly optimized |
Power Efficiency | Less efficient, higher power consumption | Highly efficient on macOS and iOS |
Battery Impact | Can drain battery faster | Minimal |
Platform Integration | Cross-platform (Windows, macOS, Linux) | Seamless with macOS and iOS |
Benchmark Scores | Competitive, generally slightly lower | High (Speedometer, JetStream, MotionMark) |
Hardware Acceleration | Enabled by default, customizable | Enabled by default |
Vivaldi
For reference, Vivaldi uses Blink, a Chromium-based rendering engine.
It also packs a high-performance JavaScript engine for maximum power efficiency.
The actual speed of getting started with the Vivaldi browser will depend on how many extensions you have installed and how powerful your laptop is.
As you can guess, Vivaldi cannot offer the same system-level integration as Safari. However, to make up for this aspect, the developers have included some smart features in the Vivaldi browser. For instance, I must appreciate how smart its resource management system is.
While the 37% faster claim is doubtful, Vivaldi definitely has an edge over other browsers like Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. Equally impressive is the tab management options within the browser.
In addition to helping you sort out different tabs, Vivaldi can automatically suspend tabs or sleep them to save resources. But, these features cannot go beyond a limit if you use multiple extensions on Vivaldi. Similarly, I have seen a heavy toolbar contributing to battery drain.
I have also noticed that the benchmark scores for Vivaldi are comparatively on the lower side. But it fares a lot better than Google Chrome or Firefox.
Overall, I would award Vivaldi a much-deserved 4 out of 5 for its speed and performance.
Safari
As you would expect, Safari is bound to offer better performance and speed on Apple devices.
It does so with the help of the WebKit rendering engine, which is optimized for maximum performance and energy savings.
As a result, I have found that Safari consumes only a fraction of resources than other web browsers available for Mac. This happens to be the case with iOS and iPadOS devices. Therefore, the battery impact of using Safari as a browser is minimal.
There are some features that work without any issues. For instance, because Safari is well integrated into the system, you can easily share data and enable continuity between your Apple devices. Even though Vivaldi offers a similar feature through Sync, the practical speed of Safari’s integration can’t be beaten.
Apple claims Safari can load websites 50% faster than Chrome. As far as battery consumption is concerned, it will provide almost 4 hours more streaming time as well. Given that Vivaldi is based on the same rendering engine that Chrome uses, it will offer better battery backup and speed.
I should also mention that Safari has scored much better than other Chromium-based browsers in tests such as JetStream, MotionMark, and Speedometer.
Overall, Safari gets a 4.8 out of 5 for speed and performance on Mac.
Additional Features
For many, web browsers have become an Operating System. From that perspective, additional features of a browser matter a lot.
Vivaldi
Vivaldi is undoubtedly one of the most feature-rich web browsers you can get today.
In addition to the many performance-centric features such as tab management and battery saving, Vivaldi is packed with a number of features that you cannot find on Safari.
Some of them include a private calendar, private translation, contacts manager, secure mobile sync, a built-in screen capture utility, pop-up blocker, quick note support, mail client and many sidebar web panels. We should not forget that Vivaldi supports all Chrome extensions.
So, you can explore thousands of extensions that are available on the Chrome Web Store.
Vivaldi is thus a great option for those who want to have almost everything within the web browser. So, as far as additional features are concerned, I would easily give it a 4.8 out of 5.
Safari
The Safari browser stands on the other end of the spectrum in terms of additional features.
For starters, you can expect all the Apple-specific features from Safari. For instance, you can keep everything in sync, and multi-device sync is one of the best you can expect.
However, when it comes to utilities, Safari lets you down big time. Even though you get some basic features like Quick Note, Translation, Live Text and Visual Lookup, that’s about it. More importantly, extensions for Safari are quite limited in terms of variety or capability.
One definite advantage, however, is the support for 4K video streaming without any additional extensions. As long as you have supported hardware and a good internet connection, Safari can enable 4K HDR streaming on YouTube, Netflix, and Apple TV+.
However, I have felt that the translation and visual lookup features need a lot of work, and you can always find better extensions for Vivaldi or Chrome.
I think Safari deserves a 3.5 out of 5 for additional features.
Privacy and Security Features
Vivaldi and Safari both focus on privacy and security as their core selling points. However, both seem to look at it from different perspectives.
Feature | Vivaldi | Safari |
|---|---|---|
Tracking Prevention | Built-in tracker and ad blocker | Intelligent Tracking Prevention |
Private Browsing | Yes | Yes |
Password Manager | Integrated password manager | Integrated with iCloud Keychain |
Encryption | Uses standard encryption protocols | End-to-end encryption for iCloud data |
Privacy Reports | No specific privacy report, but customizable | Privacy Report feature |
Fingerprinting Protection | Anti-fingerprinting measures | Partial protection |
Ad Blocking | Built-in ad blocker | Limited (depends on extensions) |
Security Updates | Regular updates, Chromium-based security fixes | Regular updates with macOS/iOS updates |
Malware Protection | Relies on Chromium’s security | Integrated with macOS security features |
Sync Encryption | End-to-end encryption for synced data | End-to-end encryption for synced data |
VPN Support | Not integrated, relies on third-party VPNs | Not integrated |
Vivaldi
Vivaldi presents its privacy-centric features as a way to get away from big tech companies while ensuring all the great features.
For instance, Vivaldi lets you stay away from trackers and problematic cookies and pop-up and ad blocker components will come in handy. In addition, the web browser supports encrypted backups and seamless synchronization between devices.
The developers also promise that Vivaldi itself does not track user behavior. But, all these promises aside, it uses the Chromium rendering engine. If recent news is any sign, Chromium is being targeted, and you should worry about it if you deal with sensitive information.
At the same time, I would appreciate all that Vivaldi does to improve the overall security and privacy of users.
This brings me to provide a 4 out of 5 for the privacy and security features of the Vivaldi browser.
Safari
The Safari browser uses the same philosophy that Apple has proposed for security and privacy. It basically asks you to trust Apple as a company that values its security ethics.
The intelligent Tracking Prevention and Privacy Report are the two major security-centric features of Safari. Both these features will help you stay away from trackers while enjoying a private browsing experience. This is in addition to the standard features such as private browsing and pop-up blocking.
And the browser will automatically upgrade sites from HTTP to HTTPS whenever it can. On top of this, you’d count on the convenience of iCloud Keychain. iCloud Keychain can automatically save your passwords and Passkeys.
Overall, if you already trust Apple with your digital security, you can keep using Safari without any additional concerns.
As for the ratings, I believe Safari deserves a 4.5 out of 5.
Cross-Platform Compatibility
Close platform compatibility should be a deciding factor when choosing between Safari and Vivaldi.
As I mentioned, Vivaldi is available for Windows, Mac OS, iOS and Android. Using the built-in synchronization feature, you can make all your passwords and bookmarks available across devices. You do not need third-party extensions to access this feature. However, it does not offer continuity features.
Safari, on the other hand, is available for Mac, iOS and iPadOS devices. So, if you use a non-Apple device, you cannot access Safari or its features. On the bright side, if you are already in the vault garden that Apple has created, you can enjoy amazing features of continuity and multi-device sync.
Ultimately, if you are into Apple devices, Safari is an easy choice, but otherwise we would recommend going for Vivaldi for its multi-platform availability.
Pros and Cons
Here’s a quick look at the pros and cons of Vivaldi and Safari:
Vivaldi
Pros:
- Highly customizable UI and extensive themes
- Advanced tab management with stacking and tiling
- Built-in tracker and ad blocker
- Fully customizable keyboard shortcuts and mouse gestures
- Supports a wide range of Chrome extensions
- Integrated note-taking feature and screenshot tool
- Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux)
- Regular updates with Chromium-based security fixes
Cons:
- Higher resource usage and power consumption
- Slower startup time, especially with many extensions
- No specific privacy report feature
- Relies on third-party VPNs for VPN support
- Slightly lower benchmark performance compared to Safari
Safari
Pros:
- Minimalistic and clean UI, optimized for macOS and iOS
- Intelligent Tracking Prevention for privacy
- Integrated with iCloud Keychain for password management
- Highly efficient resource usage and power consumption
- Quick startup time and high benchmark performance
- Seamless integration with macOS and iOS
- End-to-end encryption for synced data
- Regular updates with macOS/iOS security features
Cons:
- Limited customization options and themes
- Basic tab management without advanced features
- Limited extension support, only Safari-specific extensions
- No built-in ad blocker (depends on extensions)
- Partial protection against fingerprinting
Frequently Asked Questions
No, Vivaldi does not track you. The browser can prevent third-party websites and applications from tracking you.
Yes, you can find many better browsers than Safari. Vivaldi is a great option for customization, while Brave is great for ad-blocking.
Yes, Vivaldi is a good browser for Mac. It offers a balanced set of features for productivity, security, privacy, and multi-device sync.
The Bottom Line
Revisiting the ratings I have provided for Vivaldi and Safari, 2 things become clear.
- Vivaldi is the better browser if you are looking for a highly customizable browsing experience that you can enjoy on multiple devices.
- If you want better performance and security without customizing things a lot, you should go for Safari.
But I am sure you will have a great browsing experience with both.
