Pale Moon
The classic Firefox that never left.
A long-running fork preserving the pre-2017 Firefox experience on its own Goanna engine: full themes, XUL extensions, and a UI from the era when you owned your browser.
- Engine
- Goanna
- License
- Open source
- Runs on
- Windows, Linux
- Top marks
- Customization, Classic interface, Open source, Independence
- Updated
- September 2026
Why it shines
- Classic customizable XUL interface
- Independent engine lineage
- Runs old-school Firefox extensions
Worth knowing
- Some modern sites break on Goanna
- No WebExtensions
- Small security team for a whole engine
Origins
Pale Moon belongs to The Mozilla family — descended from Goanna.
Does well
Ranked in
Scorecard
- Tracking protection1/3
- Fingerprinting resistance0/3
- Anonymity0/3
- Built-in ad blocking0/3
- Customization3/3
- Keyboard control0/3
- Built-in tools0/3
- Minimal interface0/3
- Fresh design0/3
- Classic interface3/3
- Light on resources2/3
- Raw speed0/3
- Battery efficiency0/3
- Extension ecosystem1/3
- Cross-device sync0/3
- Site compatibility1/3
- Low maintenance1/3
- Open source3/3
- Independence3/3
- Built-in AI0/3
- Gaming features0/3
- Dev tooling0/3
0–3 on each of the 22 criteria the quiz and the guides rank by. How we score.
