Freedom Browser

Freedom is a browser for the decentralized web, with Swarm, IPFS, onchain applications, Radicle, ENS, and Tezos Domains as first-class protocols. Integrated Ant, freedom-ipfs, Radicle, experimental Myotis, and Tor components provide direct access to decentralized and onion networks without relying on centralized HTTP gateways.

Download

Download the latest build for macOS, Linux, or Windows from the official download page at freedom.baby.

Radicle is available on macOS, Linux, and Windows (x64 and ARM64). The release workflow bundles the Tor (Arti) client for macOS arm64, Linux x64/arm64 and Windows x64. Windows x64 bundling landed in September 2026, so only releases cut after that carry Arti on Windows — an earlier Windows install has none, and updating to the latest build is the fix. No Windows ARM64 build is published at all, so .onion access is unavailable on that architecture.

What Freedom supports

• Native bzz://, ipfs://, ipns://, web3://, and rad:// navigation, plus optional .onion routing through Tor.
• Contract-hosted applications (draft ERC-8244) loaded straight from an Ethereum-compatible chain, with no HTTP gateway.
• Integrated Ant (Swarm), freedom-ipfs, Radicle, experimental Myotis, and Tor components with per-profile configuration.
• ENS, WNS, GNS, and Tezos Domains resolution, including .eth, .box, .wei, .gwei, and .tez names.
• Tabs, sidebar, bookmarks, history, downloads, find-in-page, shortcuts, themes, permissions, and automatic updates.
• Freedom Agent for browser research and local project work, with connected models, helpers, and permission controls.
• Ad blocking with signed list updates and per-site allowlisting.
• Wallet and dApp flows, x402 payments, hardware-wallet support, and Swarm/Radicle provider APIs.
• A per-site encrypted data vault (window.vault): a site declares the fields it wants, the user approves the partition, and a site may publish under /shared for another site to read with per-pair consent. Managed in the wallet's Data pane, with the freedom://dapps launcher.
• Custom protocol origins so decentralized applications can use relative assets, storage, service workers, and range requests naturally.

See the feature guide for the detailed capability list.

Run from source

Development uses Node.js 24 LTS. The exact repository version is pinned in .nvmrc.

nvm install
nvm use
npm ci
npm run ant:download
npm run ipfs:download
npm run myotis:download
npm run myotis:build-supervisor
npm start

Swarm and IPFS start automatically. Radicle and Myotis are opt-in under Settings → Nodes → Startup. Run npm run radicle:download before enabling Radicle under Settings → Nodes; run npm run tor:download (macOS, Linux, and Windows) before enabling Tor under Settings → Advanced — the Tor rows only appear once that build exists. For prerequisites, platform notes, tests, debugging, and local builds, read the development guide.

Architecture

Freedom is an Electron application. Protocol, node-lifecycle, permission, wallet, download, and persistence logic lives in the main process. The renderer is a modular UI layer that communicates with the main process through the allowlisted channels in src/shared/ipc-channels.js.

The main process handles bzz:, ipfs:, ipns:, web3:, rad:, and .onion navigation, manages per-profile nodes and storage, and resolves supported decentralized names. web3: needs no node or gateway: the handler reads the contract's ERC-8244 html() document through the same chain-data router the wallet uses. Security-sensitive capabilities stay out of page and renderer contexts unless exposed through a narrow preload or IPC API.

Directory	Responsibility
src/main/	Electron main process, services, native nodes, protocol handlers, IPC, and persistence
src/renderer/	Browser UI, internal pages, navigation, settings, and dApp integration
src/shared/	Constants and utilities shared across processes
test-e2e/	Playwright harness and live Electron tests
config/	Runtime templates, default data, and platform entitlements
scripts/	Build, download, smoke-test, and maintenance tooling
docs/	User, protocol, contributor, and maintainer documentation

Contributors changing process responsibilities or adding IPC channels must follow the architecture boundaries.

Security model

• Electron runs with context isolation enabled and Node integration disabled in web content.
• Privileged internal APIs are restricted to trusted freedom:// pages or narrow provider surfaces.
• Web permissions are denied by default and granted through per-site prompts.
• Nodes run locally by default; external endpoints are explicit per-profile settings.
• ENS resolution uses public RPC fallbacks unless a custom or locally verified endpoint is configured.

Do not post credentials, seed phrases, private keys, or sensitive logs in public issues. See CONTRIBUTING.md for disclosure guidance.

Documentation

• Documentation index
• Development
• Configuration, including the command-line flags (--profile, --profile-dir, FREEDOM_PROFILE, links to open)
• Troubleshooting
• Swarm content retrieval and migration
• IPFS/IPNS content retrieval and migration
• Contract-hosted applications (ERC-8244)
• Swarm provider API
• Radicle provider API
• The data vault for site authors (window.vault)
• Native IPFS desktop integration
• Changelog

Contributing

Read CONTRIBUTING.md before opening an issue or pull request. It explains issue scope, local verification, commit conventions, licensing, and the policy for AI-assisted contributions.

For questions, ideas, or to talk through a larger change before you build it, join the Freedom Browser Telegram group.

Freedom Browser is available under the Mozilla Public License 2.0. Third-party notices are recorded in NOTICES.