Brave has reported record growth across its browser and search products in April 2026, with Linux users emerging as the fastest-growing segment, more than doubling year-over-year.
Brave co-founder and CEO Brendan Eich shared the company’s latest monthly metrics on X, highlighting continued expansion in both user activity and search usage. According to Eich, Brave reached 115.26 million monthly active users (MAU) in April, marking a 2.8% increase normalized to a 31-day period. Daily activity also climbed, with the browser hitting a high-water mark of 48.98 million daily active users (DAU) and a 28-day average of 47.01 million, up 3.5% compared to the previous month.
Eich noted that April delivered the strongest combined growth in DAU and MAU so far in 2026, alongside all-time highs in daily queries processed by Brave Search. The platform recorded 2.26 billion queries per month (QPM), equivalent to an annualized rate of 26.56 billion searches. Peak daily queries reached 75.15 million on April 27, while rolling averages also trended upward across 7-day and 28-day periods.
One of the more notable data points shared in the update is the rapid acceleration of Linux adoption. According to Eich, Brave’s Linux DAU has grown by over 100% in the past year, making it the browser’s fastest-growing platform. While the company did not provide absolute user counts for Linux, the surge suggests a meaningful shift in adoption patterns within privacy-conscious and technically inclined user groups.
Brave Software, the company behind the browser, has positioned itself as a privacy-focused alternative to mainstream browsers like Chrome and Edge. Its core offering includes built-in ad and tracker blocking, optional private advertising, and an expanding ecosystem of services, including Brave Search, VPN, and crypto-related features. The company generates revenue through a mix of private ads, search monetization, API access, premium subscriptions, and partnerships in the cryptocurrency space.
The spike in Linux growth may also be linked to Brave’s recent introduction of “Brave Origin,” a stripped-down version of the browser currently in Nightly testing. Origin focuses exclusively on core privacy protections, removing features such as Brave Rewards, Leo AI, VPN services, and telemetry systems. Notably, Brave has made Origin free on the Linux platform while planning a paid model for other platforms, a decision that could be incentivizing adoption among Linux users.
In addition to platform growth, Brave continues to see increasing engagement from its existing user base. The ratio of daily to monthly active users rose slightly to 0.41, indicating stronger retention and more frequent usage. Daily user activity also reached 6.52 billion minutes, reflecting a 2.6% increase.
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