What are the differences between Chromium and Chrome?

Chromium is an open source browser project that forms the basis of the Chrome web browser.

When Google first launched Chrome in 2008, they also released the Chromium source code for Chrome as an open source project. The open source code is maintained by the Chromium project, while Chrome itself is maintained by Google.

The biggest difference between the two browsers is that although Chrome is based on Chromium, Google has also added many proprietary features to Chrome, such as automatic updates and support for other video formats. Google has also taken a similar approach with Chromium OS, an open source project that forms the basis of its own Chrome OS - the operating system that runs on Chromebooks.

What does Chrome have that Chromium doesn’t?

Chrome is based on Chromium, but Google has added many proprietary closed-source bits to the Chrome browser that Chromium lacks.

1. AAC, H.264 and MP3 support. Chrome includes licensed codecs for these proprietary media formats, giving you access to a wider variety of media content - especially sites that use HTML5 video to deliver H.264 video. Both browsers include basic free codecs: Opus, Theora, Vorbis, VP8, VP9 and WAV.

2. Adobe Flash (PPAPI). Chrome includes a sandboxed Pepper API (PPAPI) Flash plug-in that Google will automatically update with Chrome. This is the only way to get the latest version of Flash on Linux. Even on Windows and Mac, you're better off using Chrome's sandboxed PPAPI Flash plug-in rather than the older NPAPI Flash plug-in available from Adobe's website. (You can actually get a Pepper Flash plug-in from Chrome, then install it and use it in Chromium if you want.)

3. Google Update. Chrome Windows users and Mac users get additional background apps that automatically keep Chrome up to date. Linux users use their standard software management tools.

4. Extension restrictions. For Chrome, Google disables extensions that are not hosted in the Chrome Web Store.

5. Crash and error reporting. Chrome users can choose to send statistics about crashes and errors to Google for analysis.

6. Security sandbox. Google also notes that some Linux distributions may disable Chromium's security sandbox, so you'll need to navigate to about:sandbox in Chromium to make sure the sandbox is enabled and functioning properly by default. This is one of the best features of Chromium (and Chrome).

You should note that although Chromium is not a Google brand, Chromium is still Google-centric. For example, Chromium includes the same sync features as Chrome, and you can log in with your Google account and sync your data.

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