Why should you switch from Chrome to Chromium to make your PC run faster?

Google Chrome is the most used browser for good reason. It syncs data and settings seamlessly across devices, integrates seamlessly with Google services , and has a rich library of extensions. However, it is also notorious for hogging memory and running background tasks, which can reduce productivity and disrupt your workflow.

 

So many people have abandoned Chrome for a Google-free build of Chromium – Chromite. It looks a lot like Chrome but has some key differences.

Chromite feels like Chrome, but with much less hidden processes

 

The first thing that strikes many people when using Chromium is how plain it looks. It mirrors Google Chrome, from the tab row and settings menu to the extension icons. This familiarity is intentional. Chromium is a fork of Bromite and is built for Windows, Android, and Linux.

The close resemblance to Chrome's UI and workflow eliminates the initial hurdles many expected. All bookmarks transfer, extensions work, and the workflow remains unchanged.

It's only when I start looking at Task Manager that some differences become apparent. On my work computer, CPU usage never drops below 10% with about 8-10 Chrome tabs open, but it drops below 1% in similar situations when running Chromite.

What's most impressive is the significantly lower number of background processes. With nine Chrome tabs open, Task Manager shows around 55 running processes—significantly more than Chrome shows with the same number of tabs.

The real difference in performance is not in the benchmark, but in the behavior

Wake up, restore tabs, and deep multitasking

On the average computer, I have about 15 to 20 tabs open, in addition to email, Slack , and a PDF viewer. With Chrome, many people experience small pauses as the browser reactivates tabs and background processes when the computer goes to sleep or switches contexts. But with Chrome, tabs resume almost immediately, and the system is more responsive—you barely notice those pauses.

 

While Chrome recorded around 1.8GB of RAM when loading a mix of tabs—4K video, live dashboard, and regular web pages—Chromite stayed under 500MB for the same load. That's a difference of more than 1GB, which is especially useful on older, low-spec computers or systems where lower memory pressure means less disk paging—a common cause of "slowing things down."

My favorite thing is that my system fan runs quieter when using Chromite. It doesn't speed up my computer's hardware, but it slows it down less than Chrome. The difference is a more responsive experience.

Why is Chromite lighter?

Cut the Google clutter

According to Cromite's privacy policy, the browser removes most of Google's cloud services and tracking, which may play a role in its streamlined performance. It also removes services included in Chrome, such as Chrome Variations (Field Trials), RLZ installation tokens, Safe Browsing Protection, and SSL certificate reporting. This reduces the need to connect to multiple servers, making Cromite a truly local browser.

It's completely stripped down, eliminating much of Chrome's hidden CPU and RAM usage by eliminating background tasks for telemetry, crash reporting, and remote testing.

Its speed comes from constraints rather than optimization. It doesn't constantly communicate with servers, sync data, or check features in real time.

Built-in ad blocking without additional extensions

Cromite's native Adblock Plus integration provides quiet protection

While Chrome and Chromium look very similar, there's one notable difference on the Settings page. Chromium includes an Adblock menu, a feature rarely seen in other versions of Chromium. Adblock Plus supports ad-blocking filters and JavaScript snippets to fight ads that bypass standard blockers. This neat integration makes for a lighter browser, since you don't need separate third-party ad-blocking extensions.

The browser supports granular management of custom filter lists, allowed domains, and language-specific registrations directly from the settings. This is how the browser integrates robust privacy by default. It is one of the few Chromium browsers that respects user privacy more than Chrome.