# Floorp: a Firefox derivative you install from winget, Homebrew or Flathub > Floorp 12 is a Firefox-based browser maintained by Ablaze, distributed as an installer or archive for Windows, macOS and Linux. The repository is a build system plus browser features, not a simple patch set, and that shapes who should adopt it. **Floorp-Projects/Floorp** — All of source code of Floorp 12, the most Advanced and Fastest Firefox derivative 🦊 - Repository: https://github.com/Floorp-Projects/Floorp - Website: https://floorp.app - Stars: 8,395 · Forks: 272 - Language: TypeScript - License: MPL-2.0 - Published: 2026-09-22 · Updated: 2026-09-22 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/floorp-projects-floorp ## What Floorp 12 is, and the problem it claims to solve Floorp describes itself in the README as "a browser built for keeping the Open, Private and Sustainable Web alive. Based on Mozilla Firefox." That sentence sets the scope. This is not a new engine and not a from-scratch browser. It is a Firefox derivative that ships its own feature layer and its own release cadence, and the repository topics list browser, firefox, gecko, mozilla and webbrowser, which matches that framing. The audience is narrower than the tagline suggests. Floorp is for people who already use Firefox and want behaviour the upstream browser does not ship, but who do not want to run a nightly build or compile Gecko themselves. The README states plainly that Floorp is independent of Mozilla and not affiliated with Mozilla or Mozilla Firefox, and that the project is unaffiliated with any organization other than Ablaze. It also notes that the project is unaffiliated with the browser that is forking Floorp. That last line is worth reading twice: Floorp has its own downstream forks, and the project is drawing a boundary around what it supports. The name is a registered trademark of the developer, and the logo is protected by copyright, per the README. So the code is MPL-2.0 but the identity is not. If you plan to redistribute a build, that distinction matters more than the licence file does. One thing the README does not do is quantify the claim in the repository description. There is no benchmark, no comparison table, no measurement of speed against Firefox. Treat the performance wording as a positioning statement, not as a documented result. ## Inside the repository: a build pipeline, not a patch directory The top-level layout is the most informative part of the project. Alongside the usual .github, LICENSE and README.md, there are directories named bridge, browser-features, libs, static, tools, i18n and docs, plus moz.build, deno.json, deno.lock, pnpm-lock.yaml, floorp-runtime.lock.json and a package.json whose name field is noraneko-bin at version 12.18.0. That package.json is a build manifest, not a runtime dependency list. It is marked private, uses pnpm 10.14.0 as the pinned package manager, and lists TypeScript 5.9.3, Vite 7.3.0, vite-plugin-solid, Tailwind CSS 4.1.18, oxlint, Prettier, lightningcss and puppeteer-core. The presence of Solid, Tailwind and Vite tells you the browser's own chrome surfaces are built as a modern front-end application, compiled and bundled before being placed into the Firefox tree. The presence of puppeteer-core suggests browser-driven checks exist somewhere in the tooling, though the README does not describe a test suite. Deno is a second toolchain in the same repository. deno.json and deno.lock sit next to the pnpm lockfile, and @deno/vite-plugin is a production dependency. So a contributor needs both a Node package manager and Deno available before the build scripts will run. That is a real cost: two ecosystems, two lockfiles, and a floorp-runtime.lock.json that pins the runtime separately again. The AGENTS.md, CLAUDE.md, .claude and .cursorrules entries indicate the project has written guidance for AI coding assistants into the repository root. Whatever you think of that practice, it is a signal about how contributions are expected to arrive. What is absent from the README is any build instruction. There is no documented sequence for producing a binary from source. The README points to docs.floorp.app for detail, and that is where a builder has to go. ## Installing Floorp on Windows, macOS and Linux The README's supported-platform section is the practical part. Windows 10 or later on x86_64 only, with AArch64 explicitly unsupported. macOS 10.15 or later, with a Universal build covering x86_64 and ARM64. Linux on Debian-based and Arch-based distributions, x86_64 and AArch64, with Firefox's own system requirements linked as the baseline. On Windows, the README gives two package-manager routes. Winget is the shorter one: ```bash winget install Ablaze.Floorp ``` The package id is Ablaze.Floorp, and the README credits the winget repository to a contributor rather than to the project itself. Scoop needs the extras bucket added first: ```bash scoop bucket add extras scoop install extras/floorp ``` On macOS, the documented route is a Homebrew cask: ```bash brew install --cask floorp ``` The README states that from version 11.0.0 onward Floorp holds Apple Notarization and Certification, so installation should not produce warning dialogs, and that an auto-update system is included. Linux is where the options multiply. The README lists a PPA at ppa.floorp.app for Ubuntu and Linux Mint, a Flatpak on Flathub under the id one.ablaze.floorp, a tarball from the GitHub releases page, and two AUR packages plus a SlackBuild that the README itself marks Unofficial. If you are on Arch, that label is the thing to notice before you install: ```bash flatpak install flathub one.ablaze.floorp ``` The Flatpak id is the one to use, since the README gives the Flathub URL rather than a command. For a first real use, install through your platform's route, launch Floorp once, and check the version string against the release you intended. The current release line in the repository is 12.18.0, published on 2026-09-17, following 12.17.2 on 2026-09-03 and 12.17.1 on 2026-08-28. If your installed build reports something older, the update path did not run. ## Where Floorp stops being the right choice The README is silent on mobile. There is no Android package, no iOS target, and no mention of either in the supported operating systems section, which covers Windows, macOS and Linux only. If you need the same browser on a phone, Floorp does not offer it, and the related search interest in a mobile build is not matched by anything in this README. Rollback is undocumented. The README describes installation for six or seven routes and says nothing about how to downgrade, how to remove a Flatpak or PPA installation, or what happens to a profile when you move between a tarball build and a packaged build. A browser profile carries bookmarks, history and extension state; switching distribution channels without knowing whether profiles are shared is the kind of thing that costs an afternoon. The README does not document it, and the documentation wiki is where you would have to look. Windows on ARM is a hard no. The README states AArch64 is not supported on Windows while listing it as supported on Linux and covered by the macOS Universal build. That asymmetry is easy to miss if you skim the requirements table. The build path is the other limitation. Two lockfiles, Deno plus pnpm, Vite plus Solid plus Tailwind, and a separate runtime lock. That is a normal modern front-end stack, but it is not a small patch you can rebase onto a Firefox release in an afternoon. Anyone expecting Floorp to be a thin overlay on Mozilla's tree will find a substantial application instead. Finally, the README's own framing of forks cuts both ways. Floorp is independent, and so are the projects that fork it. Nothing in the README suggests upstream support flows in either direction. ## Floorp versus Firefox, and versus other Firefox derivatives The honest comparison is with Firefox itself, because Floorp is Firefox underneath. The difference is not the engine. It is the release cadence, the feature layer built in browser-features and bridge, and the distribution channels. Firefox ships through Mozilla's own update system and its own installer; Floorp ships through winget, Scoop, Homebrew, a PPA, Flathub, a tarball and unofficial AUR packages. That spread is convenient and it is also the source of the profile and rollback questions above. Against other Firefox derivatives, the distinguishing fact in this README is the toolchain. A browser that builds its own chrome with Solid and Tailwind, compiles it with Vite and SWC, and pins a separate runtime lockfile is doing more than theming. The repository description calls Floorp the "most Advanced and Fastest Firefox derivative", but the README provides no measurement behind either word, so the comparison rests on the architecture rather than on a number. The licence is the same class as Firefox's. MPL-2.0 covers the source. What MPL-2.0 does not cover is the Floorp name, which the README says is a registered trademark of the developer, or the logo, which it says is protected by copyright. Forking the code and shipping it under the Floorp name are therefore different acts. This is a description of what the README states, not legal advice. On maintenance, the evidence is the release history and the push record. The last push to main was on 2026-09-21, and the most recent release v12.18.0 is dated 2026-09-17, with two more releases in the preceding three weeks. The repository is not archived. That pattern is consistent with a project that ships often. ## Maintenance cost and the upgrade question The upgrade story depends on which channel you chose. macOS has auto-update from version 11.0.0 onward, according to the README. Windows installs through winget or Scoop inherit those tools' upgrade behaviour, and a .exe installer is also offered. Linux splits three ways: a PPA, a Flatpak, and a tarball that you replace yourself. The tarball is the one that puts the entire update burden on you, and the README gives no update instructions for it beyond pointing at the releases page. For a contributor, the cost is the toolchain. pnpm 10.14.0 is pinned in package.json, Deno appears through deno.json and deno.lock, and floorp-runtime.lock.json pins the runtime independently. Keeping those in step across a Firefox rebase is ongoing work, and the README does not describe how the rebase is performed or how often. AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md exist for assistant-driven contributions, which suggests the project has thought about onboarding, but neither is described in the README. For a user, the cost is mostly about trust in the update path. The README notes that Floorp holds a Certum Open Source Code Signing Certificate and that the official Windows installer is signed by "Open Source Developer, Ryosuke Asano". Checking that string after download is a concrete verification step, and it is the one the project itself puts in writing. The privacy policy is linked at floorp.app/privacy, and the README does not summarise what it contains. ## Conclusion Adopt Floorp if you want a Firefox derivative with its own feature layer and you are comfortable installing from winget, Homebrew, a PPA or Flathub, and if you accept that the source tree is a custom build pipeline rather than a patch on top of Mozilla. Do not adopt it if you need an unmodified Firefox, a mobile or Android build, or a project whose README documents rollback and uninstall steps; the README does not document either. Before installing, check the signature string on the installer and read the MPL-2.0 notice plus the trademark and logo paragraph in the README, because the licence covers the code and not the name. ## FAQ ### What is Floorp browser? Floorp is a browser based on Mozilla Firefox, developed by the Floorp project under Ablaze. The README describes it as built for keeping the Open, Private and Sustainable Web alive, and states that it is independent of and unaffiliated with Mozilla. ### Is Floorp browser free? The README presents Floorp as a free and open-source project and links a sponsorship page, so there is no purchase step described. The source is published under MPL-2.0. ### How do I install Floorp on Linux? The README lists a PPA at ppa.floorp.app for Ubuntu and Linux Mint, a Flatpak on Flathub under the id one.ablaze.floorp, a tarball from the GitHub releases page, and AUR packages for Arch-based distributions that the README marks Unofficial. Debian-based and Arch-based distributions are the supported ones. ### How do I install Floorp on Arch? The README points to floorp-bin and floorp on the AUR, and labels both Unofficial. A Flatpak from Flathub is the other documented route that works on Arch-based distributions. ### What are the main differences between Firefox and Floorp? The engine is the same, since Floorp is based on Mozilla Firefox. The differences visible here are the feature layer in browser-features and bridge, a build pipeline using pnpm, Deno, Vite, Solid and Tailwind, and a distribution set that includes winget, Scoop, Homebrew, a PPA and Flathub. ### How do I install Floorp on Ubuntu? The README lists a PPA at ppa.floorp.app for Ubuntu and Linux Mint, and a Flatpak on Flathub under the id one.ablaze.floorp as an alternative. A tarball from the GitHub releases page is also offered. ## Sources - [Floorp-Projects/Floorp on GitHub](https://github.com/Floorp-Projects/Floorp) - [License: MPL-2.0](https://github.com/Floorp-Projects/Floorp/blob/main/LICENSE) - [Project website](https://floorp.app) - [README](https://github.com/Floorp-Projects/Floorp/blob/main/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/Floorp-Projects/Floorp/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/floorp-projects-floorp