ForceHTTPS VS Smart HTTPS

• Security Enhancement
  ForceHTTPS helps in enforcing HTTPS connections, ensuring that data transmitted between the user's browser and the server is encrypted, thereby enhancing security against eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks.
• User Protection
  By automatically redirecting HTTP requests to HTTPS, ForceHTTPS protects users from accidentally accessing insecure versions of websites that may expose sensitive information.
• Trust Establishment
  Utilizing HTTPS can increase user trust as they are assured of a secure connection, often indicated by a padlock symbol in the browser's address bar.

Possible disadvantages

• Implementation Complexity
  Implementing ForceHTTPS can be technically challenging, especially for websites with a large number of resources or legacy systems that may not fully support HTTPS.
• Performance Overhead
  HTTPS can introduce additional latency and overhead due to the SSL/TLS handshake, potentially affecting webpage load times compared to HTTP.
• Compatibility Issues
  Some older browsers or devices might not fully support HTTPS or might experience issues with redirection enforced by ForceHTTPS, leading to accessibility problems for certain users.

• Automatic Redirection to HTTPS
  Smart HTTPS automatically changes HTTP protocol to HTTPS, which enhances the security of your browsing by ensuring that the connection is encrypted.
• Fallback to HTTP
  In cases where an HTTPS version of the site is not available, it can automatically revert back to HTTP, ensuring you can still access the website instead of facing a disruption.
• Whitelist Feature
  Allows users to maintain a whitelist of websites that should always be accessed using HTTP, providing flexibility and control over the browsing experience.
• Improved Privacy
  By automatically using HTTPS, it helps in protecting user data from eavesdroppers and enhances privacy while browsing the web.

Possible disadvantages

• Compatibility Issues
  Some websites may not function correctly over HTTPS, leading to potential misbehavior or broken features when accessed using Smart HTTPS.
• Potential for Increased Loading Times
  Sometimes, redirecting to HTTPS can result in slightly longer loading times, especially if the server's configuration is not optimal for HTTPS.
• Resource Intensive
  The addon might consume additional resources to check for HTTPS versions of every site, which could impact browser performance, especially on older systems.
• Limited Control Over Redirection
  Users might have limited ability to control which sites are redirected to HTTPS if they haven't preemptively whitelisted specific HTTP sites.

Tracking ForceHTTPS since Mar 2021.

• “We don’t track you … except for when we get paid for it.”

  Smart HTTPS, site This tries to send you to https sites instead of http sites. Using http sites makes you venerable to man in the middle attacks. (dont use http on public wifis if possible). Source: over 4 years ago

• question about non secure websites

  I'd recommend using Smart HTTPS which automatically makes your site's HTTPS if it can offer it so it will reduce these situations. Here's the site where you can choose whichever browser you use. https://mybrowseraddon.com/smart-https.html. Source: over 4 years ago