Alternatives to Chromium
The open-source browser project that Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi are all built from. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Chromium
The open-source browser project that Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Vivaldi are all built from.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Chromium.
ungoogled-chromium
Plain Chromium with every connection to Google web services stripped out, and nothing else changed.
ungoogled-chromium removes Google web service calls entirely while staying a drop-in Chromium and adds a portable Windows ZIP, but volunteer builds can lag upstream releases.
Google Chrome
Google's browser, the Chromium-based one most web development is tested against.
Google Chrome is the proprietary build on the same code, with updates every four weeks and the largest extension library, but it ties into Google account and advertising systems.
Thorium
Use a Chromium-based browser with CPU-specific builds.
Thorium is an open-source Chromium-based browser offering builds tailored to specific CPU instruction sets, so you must pick a build that matches your processor.
Brave
A Chromium browser that blocks ads and trackers out of the box, with no extension to install first.
Brave builds on Chromium with ad and tracker blocking on by default and Android support, but adds a crypto wallet, rewards programme and AI assistant.
Cromite
A hardened Chromium fork for Android, Windows and Linux with ad blocking and Google services removed.
Cromite is a Chromium fork with ad blocking compiled in and Google integration removed, adds Android builds, but has no macOS version and one main maintainer.
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft's Chromium-based browser, bundled with Windows.
Microsoft Edge is a proprietary Chromium build with vertical tabs, sleeping tabs and a built-in PDF reader, and it pushes Bing and Microsoft accounts.
Vivaldi
A Chromium browser for people who want tab stacks, split screen and a mail client in the same window.
Vivaldi is a Chromium build with tab stacking, tiling and built-in mail and calendar, but only its modified Chromium parts are published as source.
SRWare Iron
Chromium rebuild that strips out Google's tracking and reporting features.
SRWare Iron is a Chromium rebuild that removes Google's install ID and reporting and adds an Android build, but it is closed source and historically updates late.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Chromium as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Angelfish
A lightweight KDE web browser designed for mobile Linux devices that also runs on the desktop.
Chromium gives you the upstream open-source engine packaged by most Linux distributions, with no Google sign-in, but it lacks Widevine DRM in most builds and any KDE integration.
Falkon
Lightweight KDE browser built on QtWebEngine.
Chromium is the open-source upstream engine with Chrome's interface and adds macOS, but official builds do not auto-update and most builds lack Widevine DRM for paid streaming.
Firefox Developer Edition
A pre-release build of Firefox for web developers, with the newest developer tools and platform features.
Chromium lets developers test against the bare Chromium engine, with Chrome for Testing builds for every release channel, but official builds do not auto-update.
Firefox Nightly
Mozilla's daily pre-release build of Firefox for trying and testing upcoming browser features.
Chromium lets testers follow the open-source Chromium engine with Chrome for Testing builds for every channel, but official builds do not auto-update on Windows or macOS.
Flow Browser
An independent HTML browser engine and browser that lays out pages in parallel across CPU cores.
Chromium swaps the independent engine for the open-source upstream codebase behind most browsers, packaged by most Linux distributions, giving mainstream site compatibility instead of a new engine.
GNOME Web
GNOME's browser, built on WebKitGTK, formerly known as Epiphany.
Chromium brings the engine most sites are built for and is packaged by most Linux distributions, but most builds lack Widevine DRM for paid streaming.
Iridium Browser
A Chromium-based desktop browser modified to stop data being sent to Google and other central services.
Chromium is the upstream project with no Google sign-in or usage reporting built in, packaged by most Linux distributions, but without the reproducible, auditable privacy patches of Iridium.
Konqueror
KDE's combined web browser and file manager, using Qt WebEngine for pages.
Chromium gives the upstream engine and Chrome's interface, installed on Linux through distribution packages, without file management or FTP/SFTP features.
Microsoft Edge Dev / Canary
Preview channels of Microsoft Edge for testing early features.
Chromium is the open-source upstream of Edge, with Chrome for Testing builds for every release channel, but official builds do not auto-update and lack Widevine DRM.
Safari Technology Preview
Apple's early-access Safari build for macOS with the latest WebKit engine and developer tools.
Chromium lets developers test against the bare Chromium engine with Chrome for Testing builds for every release channel, across all desktops, instead of upcoming WebKit.
Servo
Experiment with a browser engine written in Rust.
Chromium moves you to the open-source upstream engine behind Chrome and Edge under BSD-3-Clause, a complete browser rather than a prototype, though official builds do not auto-update.
Yandex Browser
Chromium browser from Yandex with built-in translation and AI features.
Chromium gives an open-source BSD-3-Clause browser with no vendor account integration, but official builds do not auto-update and most lack Widevine DRM for streaming.
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.
Supermium
A current Chromium-based web browser that runs on Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8.x and later.
