Chromium
Open-source web browser project that serves as the codebase for Google Chrome.
HN commenters like Chromium for its speed, especially on heavy or canvas-based pages,123 and as a fallback for sites that break in Firefox.4567 The most common complaint is a bloated codebase,89 with others citing high RAM use and limited extension and ad-blocking support.1011
Why people recommend it
Site compatibility · 3
Commenters keep it installed for sites that break or run slowly in Firefox.
“If I always have to have Chromium installed as a fallback, might as well use it.”
“I now have to `pacman -S chromium` to buy tickets from Deutche Bahn”
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“It just starts a clean Chromium with a throw-away profile”
Speed · 3
Users find it noticeably faster than Firefox and Safari, especially for canvas and UI-heavy work.
“Chromium is significantly faster (maybe 5 to 10x faster on certain tasks mostly around canvas”
“I switched from Firefox to Chromium because of speed.”
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“Chromium is snappier in comparison, has no scrolling or hitbox glitches, does not crash on heavier websites.”
Stability · 3
Users report it rarely crashes, even on heavier websites.
“my firefox and chromium running as snaps never crashed a single time for as long as I can remember”
“Chromium is snappier in comparison, has no scrolling or hitbox glitches, does not crash on heavier websites.”
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Open development · 2
Commenters say patches are welcomed and praise its Starlark-based build system.
“It seems much easier to use Firefox or Chromium, where my fixes actually meet open ears.”
“Chromium has a better build system using Starlark.”
Scriptable · 2
Users script it with throwaway profiles or run it in Docker driven over CDP.
“It just starts a clean Chromium with a throw-away profile”
“Launch a chromium docker instance w. URL and send JS to click on the play button”
Caveats and dissent
Bloated codebase · 2
Some commenters call the Chromium source bloated and hard to maintain.
“Chromium, as a result, is a giant, bloated, buggy heap of shit, THAT CANNOT be properly maintained IN ANY LANGUAGE, due to the extreme level of bloat.”
“the Chromium source, which is a gigantic flaming heap of trash”
RAM usage · 1
One commenter says it uses a lot of memory.
“Chromium seem to just gobble up RAM”
Extension limits · 1
One commenter avoids Chromium browsers over incomplete extension and ad-blocking support.
“not using any Chromium browsers, especially due to not having full extension and adblocking support”
Trust concerns · 1
One commenter runs it only when required, isolated under bubblewrap and a separate user account.
“Crapium because of $CORPORATE, isolated under bubblewrap and a separate user account”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Google fixed more Chrome bugs in June than over the past two years, thanks to AI 2 mentions
- Websites are closing their doors to AI agents 1 mention
- Comparing Chromium Development at Google and Igalia 1 mention
- I switched to Brave 1 mention
- Ubuntu 26.10 completes transition to Rust-based coreutils 1 mention
- My practical approach to surfing the web safely 1 mention
Data: chromium.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 20
“I now have to `pacman -S chromium` to buy tickets from Deutche Bahn”
“Chromium seem to just gobble up RAM”
“Chromium has a better build system using Starlark.”
“my firefox and chromium running as snaps never crashed a single time for as long as I can remember”
“It just starts a clean Chromium with a throw-away profile”
“If I always have to have Chromium installed as a fallback, might as well use it.”
“Chromium, as a result, is a giant, bloated, buggy heap of shit, THAT CANNOT be properly maintained IN ANY LANGUAGE, due to the extreme level of bloat.”
“the Chromium source, which is a gigantic flaming heap of trash”
“Crapium because of $CORPORATE, isolated under bubblewrap and a separate user account”
“Chromium if I have to for something.”
“Chromium is snappier in comparison, has no scrolling or hitbox glitches, does not crash on heavier websites.”
“Chromium feels like a solid product.”
“Chromium is significantly faster (maybe 5 to 10x faster on certain tasks mostly around canvas”
“not using any Chromium browsers, especially due to not having full extension and adblocking support”
“It seems much easier to use Firefox or Chromium, where my fixes actually meet open ears.”
“Remember that chromium is trying to open perplexity.ai”
“Launch a chromium docker instance w. URL and send JS to click on the play button”
“I've got chromium too but typically I use Firefox.”
“I use chromium as my browser”
“I switched from Firefox to Chromium because of speed.”