Alternatives to Google Chrome
Google's browser, the Chromium-based one most web development is tested against. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Google Chrome
Google's browser, the Chromium-based one most web development is tested against.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Google Chrome.
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft's Chromium-based browser, bundled with Windows.
Microsoft Edge keeps Chromium and runs Chrome extensions unchanged, adds vertical tabs, sleeping tabs and a PDF reader, and swaps Google ties for Bing and Microsoft accounts.
Firefox
The main browser not built on Chromium, with tracking protection turned on by default.
Firefox moves off Chromium to an independent open-source engine with Total Cookie Protection and containers, though a small number of Chromium-only sites may not work.
Brave
A Chromium browser that blocks ads and trackers out of the box, with no extension to install first.
Brave keeps Chromium and Chrome extensions, blocks ads and trackers by default, and is open source, but ships a crypto wallet, rewards programme and AI assistant.
Chromium
The open-source browser project that Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi are all built from.
Chromium is the open-source upstream without Google account integration or usage reporting, but official builds do not auto-update and most lack Widevine DRM for streaming.
Safari
Apple's browser, with the deepest integration into macOS and Apple devices.
Safari uses WebKit instead of Chromium and offers iCloud sync and low battery use, but it is macOS only and lags on some web platform features.
Vivaldi
A Chromium browser for people who want tab stacks, split screen and a mail client in the same window.
Vivaldi keeps Chromium site compatibility and adds tab stacking, tiling, vertical tabs and a built-in mail, calendar and feed reader, with many settings to work through.
Opera
Chromium browser with an ad blocker, a free proxy VPN and a messenger sidebar.
Opera keeps Chromium and adds a built-in ad blocker, no-account proxy VPN and sidebar messengers, but it is closed source and owned by a Chinese consortium.
ungoogled-chromium
Plain Chromium with every connection to Google web services stripped out, and nothing else changed.
ungoogled-chromium keeps Chromium behaviour with Google web service calls removed and a public patch set, but extensions are installed by hand and updates can lag upstream.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Google Chrome as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
360 Secure Browser
A Chinese Chromium-based browser from Qihoo 360 with malicious site blocking and built-in AI tools.
Google Chrome keeps the Chromium base and adds the largest extension library, with builds for macOS and Linux, but drops the Chinese-language built-in tools and ties into Google accounts.
Arc
Chromium browser organised around spaces, a sidebar and split views.
Google Chrome drops spaces and the sidebar layout for a conventional Chromium browser with the largest extension library and a Linux build, tied closely to Google accounts.
Cốc Cốc
A Chromium-based web browser made for Vietnamese users, with ad blocking and video downloading built in.
Google Chrome keeps the same Chromium engine with the largest extension library and adds Linux support, but ties into Google accounts and drops the Vietnamese language tools of Cốc Cốc.
Firefox Developer Edition
A pre-release build of Firefox for web developers, with the newest developer tools and platform features.
Google Chrome is the Chromium browser most web development is tested against, with four-week updates, but it is proprietary stable software rather than a pre-release build.
Firefox ESR
The Extended Support Release of Firefox, a long-term stable build intended for organisations.
Google Chrome switches to a proprietary Chromium browser with updates every four weeks and the largest extension library, tied closely to Google account and advertising systems.
Helium
An open-source Chromium browser that blocks ads, trackers and cookie banners by default without telemetry.
Google Chrome offers the largest extension library and four-week updates from Google, but it is proprietary and ties closely into Google account and advertising systems.
Lunascape
Japanese browser with built-in ad blocking and a crypto wallet.
Google Chrome drops the built-in ad blocker and wallet but offers the largest extension library, four-weekly updates and close ties to Google accounts.
Maxthon
Long-running Chromium browser with built-in notes, passwords and AI chat.
Google Chrome has no built-in notes tool or AI chat but offers guaranteed site compatibility, the largest extension library and close Google account integration.
Microsoft Edge Dev / Canary
Preview channels of Microsoft Edge for testing early features.
Google Chrome is the Chromium browser most web development is tested against, with updates every four weeks and the largest extension library, tied to Google accounts.
Naver Whale
Korean Chromium browser with a sidebar, split tabs and built-in capture tools.
Google Chrome drops Whale's sidebar and split tabs but offers guaranteed site compatibility, the largest extension library and ties to Google accounts instead of Naver.
Norton Private Browser
A free Chromium-based browser from Norton with built-in tracker and phishing protection for Windows and Mac.
Google Chrome drops the preset tracker protection but gives the largest extension library, four-weekly updates and a Linux build, with close ties to Google advertising.
Opera GX
Gaming edition of Opera with CPU, RAM and network limiters.
Google Chrome offers guaranteed site compatibility and the largest extension library, but has no resource limiters, ad blocker or gaming styling.
Puffin Browser
A cloud-accelerated browser that loads and renders web pages on remote servers before sending them to you.
Google Chrome renders pages on your own device instead of remote servers and is free with the largest extension library, but it ties closely into Google account and advertising systems.
QQ Browser
Tencent's Chinese-language web browser with a built-in Yuanbao AI assistant, split-screen browsing and file tools.
Google Chrome offers Chromium with the largest extension library on Windows, macOS and Linux, but drops the Chinese interface and Yuanbao assistant and ties into Google accounts.
Sleipnir
Japanese Chromium browser from Fenrir built around mouse gestures and text rendering.
Google Chrome keeps the Chromium engine with the largest extension library and updates every four weeks, adds Linux, but ties closely into Google account and advertising systems.
Slimjet
Chromium browser with ad blocking, form filling and download tools built in.
Google Chrome receives Chromium updates every four weeks directly from Google, but ties closely into Google account and advertising systems and has no built-in download tools.
Supermium
A current Chromium-based web browser that runs on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8.x and later.
Google Chrome offers the reference Chromium build with regular four-week updates on Windows, macOS and Linux, but the roster does not list support for Windows XP through 8.x.
Thorium
Use a Chromium-based browser with CPU-specific builds.
Google Chrome drops CPU-specific builds for updates every four weeks and the largest extension library, but it is proprietary and tied to Google accounts.
Ulaa
Privacy-focused Chromium browser from Zoho with separate browsing modes.
Google Chrome provides the largest extension library and updates every four weeks on Chromium, but ties closely into Google account and advertising systems.
Yandex Browser
Chromium browser from Yandex with built-in translation and AI features.
Google Chrome keeps the Chromium engine and extensions with updates every four weeks, operated by Google rather than a Russian company, and tied into Google advertising systems.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Speedometer
A browser benchmark that measures web app responsiveness by simulating user actions in demo applications.
JetStream
A JavaScript and WebAssembly benchmark suite that measures how fast browsers start up and run advanced web apps.
HTML5test
A web page that scores how many HTML5 and related web platform features your browser supports.
