We built the browser we wanted.

Yes, really. We think today’s browser choices are almost as bad as the days when Internet Explorer had 90% of the market. Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Edge all exist, but each one comes with a catch.

Apple forces every browser on iOS to use its WebKit engine, “for security”. The EU has already pushed back on this, and it still limits what a browser on iOS can be.

Google’s Chromium engine powers lots of other browsers, including Microsoft Edge. Google is an ad company, and it’s purposefully enshittifying extensions to keep the ad money coming. That change was also “for security”.

Firefox is fine, but Mozilla trades some of your privacy and choice for revenue. Open a fresh Firefox install and you’ll see weather, top news stories, and links to Amazon. All of that earns Mozilla money, and none of it was your decision.

So yes, a browser. We wanted one that sorts our tabs into Workspaces, syncs on our terms, and lets us decide whether ads get through. We’re tired of being the product, and we’re tired of having crap shoved at us to use a basic tool.

Sval is built on Firefox ESR, the long-term-support version of Firefox. It’s stable, well-supported, and receives security updates regularly. We re-did a bunch of stuff about how Firefox worked to better suit our (and hopefully your) needs: Workspaces, privacy controls, tab organization, Peeks, Launcher, Splits, local/your-cloud sync, Agent Workspaces, and ripping out the stuff you never asked for such as top stories, weather, and paid partner links on the home page.

We do get that Mozilla has to fund itself, and it has done a ton of good for the web, but we didn’t love that the user experience of Firefox as a product had to suffer, so we’re trying to fix that aspect with Sval.

Probably. Most popular extensions have Firefox versions, and Sval installs them from addons.mozilla.org. If an extension works in Firefox, it likely works in Sval. That includes Manifest V2 ad blockers like uBlock Origin. Some extensions which modified the Firefox UI will likely have issues. Let us know how your experience is - we can work to better support these...

Google hobbled extensions on Chrome to protect its ad revenue, and browsers built on Chromium are following (Chrome, Edge, Vivaldi, Arc, etc...). Brave and Opera keep a handful of Manifest V2 ad blockers running, for now. We built Sval on Firefox’s engine because it still runs both Manifest V2 and V3 extensions. 

We plan to keep it that way for as long as we possibly can so YOU have control over your browsing experience.

Point Sval at any folder, like iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, a network drive, or a USB stick. Then point your other devices at the same folder and join them with a one-time code. That’s it. 

Your tabs, Workspaces, groups, Favorites, history, and settings sync through that folder, end-to-end encrypted with a key only your devices have. We don’t run a sync server, and you don’t sign away your rights to use a basic feature. Whether that folder lives in someone’s cloud is your call.

Because who actually wants that? Who wants to pay a margin premium on tokens to use a browser? Maybe you run Qwen locally, maybe you use Claude’s desktop app, or maybe you hate AI and never want to touch it.

Sval has a built-in MCP server that’s off by default. Turn on agent access and the agent you already use today can drive Sval. If you don’t want that, leave it off - we’re not offended because we aren’t earning a cut of your token spend and therefore aren’t incentivized to shove our AI products down your face.

Yes – we utilize LLMs heavily for development and testing. If that’s a deal-breaker for you, we respect it, even if we disagree.

Read the source, and if you find something that’s objectively wrong, send us a pull request you wrote without AI. Or don’t use Sval. That’s your choice too.

No idea yet! 

It’s not, and never will be, from your data.

We built Sval because it’s the browser we wanted. Over time we might find ways to make money that don’t turn you into the product, such as a one-time purchase once we hit v1. We don’t know yet – ideas are welcome!

If this stays a side project for privacy and control nerds, so be it. We don’t owe anyone money, we aren’t starving, and we don’t have investors demanding a 100x return in six years. (Nothing against investors. We’re just not trying to build a unicorn, here - a “lifestyle business” would be quite nice.)

That wasn’t a question, you ass.

But yeah, that’s probably true. Maybe you should be a little unhinged these days, too...

We think that stuff doesn’t have to suck. Products don’t have to sell their users out. Products don’t have to get enshittified just to cook accounting or growth books to make stock go up. Companies don’t have to grow at all costs. We’re sick of the world where data-brokers funnel massive amounts of our information around with no real consent (and screw the lawyers and judges who think visiting a website is informed consent.) Why can’t we just pay for something and use it without being abused by it later?

We’re trying to make a basic tool go back to being a tool for you. Something people love and find useful.