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Pale Moon is a custom-developed browser derived from Firefox’s open-source code, emphasizing speed, efficiency, and user control. It focuses on delivering an efficient, full-featured browsing experience with strong performance and a classic design.
After observing the benefits of other systems (e.g., Linux), where programs are compiled specifically for a machine’s capabilities, it became clear that Windows users were at a disadvantage.
Mozilla prioritizes maximum compatibility for its Windows executables. This means Firefox is designed to run on the widest possible range of systems, often sacrificing efficiency and speed to support even what is, by current standards, legacy hardware.
Mozilla doesn’t provide optimized browser packages for Windows. This means you might experience reduced speed and effectiveness when using your browser.
To address this, the Pale Moon project offers custom-built and optimized Firefox-based browsers for Windows. Experience maximum speed and efficiency from your browser!
Pale Moon Main options
- Highly optimized for modern processors
- 100% Firefox-sourced: As safe as the browser that has seen years of development.
- Support for Firefox extensions (add-ons), themes, and personas
- Able to make use of the present Firefox profiles, bookmarks, and settings with this migration tool
- Uses barely less memory due to disabled redundant and optionally available code
- Significant speed increase for web page drawing and script processing
- Support for HTML5 and WebGL (v4)
- Stability: fewer browser crashes.
- Support for SVG and Canvas, and downloadable fonts, together with WOFF
- Support for OOPP (Out-of-process plugin execution)
The Pale Moon browser introduces user interface changes more conservatively, helping maintain a familiar browsing experience. It, although very close to Firefox, is (now more obviously so than before) a different product. However, these structural variations do not prevent anyone from configuring their browser interface to look and work exactly as they want, including using Mozilla Firefox’s default layout if desired.
Pale Moon – Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✓ Optimized for modern processors to deliver faster page rendering and improved script execution on supported hardware. | ✗ Some modern websites and web applications may not be fully compatible because Pale Moon uses its own independent browser platform. |
| ✓ Open-source browser that supports extensions, themes, and Firefox profile migration for a familiar browsing experience. | ✗ Extension compatibility is more limited than current mainstream Firefox releases, and not all modern Firefox add-ons are supported. |
| ✓ Uses less memory by removing unnecessary components, helping improve efficiency on compatible systems. | ✗ Prioritizes a traditional interface over adopting the latest browser design changes, which may not appeal to every user. |
| ✓ Supports modern web technologies such as HTML5, WebGL, SVG, Canvas, downloadable fonts, and out-of-process plugin execution. | ✗ Requires a processor with SSE2 instruction support, making it incompatible with some very old hardware. |
| ✓ Receives regular security updates and code audits to address vulnerabilities and improve browser stability. | ✗ Has a smaller development community and ecosystem than major browsers, resulting in fewer third-party extensions and integrations. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Pale Moon used for?
Pale Moon web browser is designed for general web browsing with an emphasis on speed, efficiency, customization, and a familiar interface. It is optimized for modern processors and supports features such as HTML5, WebGL, SVG, Canvas, themes, and extensions.
Does Pale Moon support Firefox extensions?
Yes, Pale Moon supports many legacy Firefox extensions and also has its own collection of extensions and themes. Compatibility is not guaranteed for every Firefox add-on because the browser uses its own independent platform.
Can Pale Moon use Firefox profiles, bookmarks, and settings?
Yes. The page states that its migration tool can use existing Firefox profiles, bookmarks, and settings. This can make switching to the browser easier for users who already have a Firefox setup.
Is Pale Moon compatible with modern websites?
Pale Moon supports modern web technologies such as HTML5, WebGL, SVG, and Canvas, but some modern websites and web applications may not work fully because it follows its own independent browser platform. The page specifically notes that compatibility can differ from mainstream browsers.
What is the difference between Pale Moon and Firefox?
Pale Moon is an independent browser derived from Firefox code, with its own Gecko rendering engine, interface choices, feature set, and development path. Firefox follows Mozilla’s current browser platform and WebExtensions ecosystem, whereas Pale Moon focuses on customization, its own add-on platform, and compatibility with many legacy Firefox extensions.
What’s New in Pale Moon 35.0.2
Release Date 2026-09-22
- Disabled the new :has() CSS implementation by default for performance reasons. See implementation notes.
- Added a preference for handling improper form element placement in HTML. See implementation notes.
- Fixed several application crashes.
- Backported an upstream libvpx VP8 decoder fix.
- Fixed an issue in the BigInt implementation for specific JavaScript calls failing.
- Fixed a potentially exploitable memory leak.
- Security issues addressed: CVE-2026-100822, CVE-2026-100783, CVE-2026-100773 (DiD), CVE-2026-96869 (DiD) and CVE-2026-100791.
Implementation notes:
- The implementation for the CSS :has() pseudo element selector was disabled by default for causing additional severe performance issues on websites. This reduces web compatibility for some sites, but the feature turned out to have too much of a performance-impacting issue to leave it enabled by default. This should improve performance of the browser across the board while we investigate the root cause of this performance impact in our development going forward. Expect this feature to be enabled again later on after we have addressed the performance issues. If you don’t mind the performance impact or have fast hardware, you can enable the feature with the preference layout.css.has-pseudo.enabled (set it to true) for broader website compatibility at the cost of processing.
- In v35, we tightened our handling of form elements in HTML documents for security reasons, to adhere more strictly to the HTML standard regarding forms in tables. A detailed explanation can be found in this forum topic, including how to fix it in the documents or potential workarounds. You can control this with the preference html5.forms.standards_compliant. By default, this is set to true to adhere to the spec, but you can (temporarily) disable this with false (with a page reload) to allow more lax parsing of forms similar to pre-v35 versions of Pale Moon.
Official Homepage – https://www.palemoon.org
Minimum System Requirements:
- Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11
- Windows Server 2008 R2 or later
- A processor with SSE2 instruction support
- 1 GB of RAM
- At least 200 MB of free (uncompressed) disk space
