Thorium Browser
What Thorium Browser is
Thorium Browser is a free Chromium-based browser for Android, Linux, macOS, Windows, and the web. It is designed to behave like Google Chrome while adding project-specific patches and enhancements. The project reports performance improvements of 8–38% over standard Chromium, depending on benchmark and operating system. Builds use LTO, PGO, LLVM loop optimizations, and SIMD variants, while Linux releases offer SSE3, SSE4, AVX, and AVX2 builds for different processors. On Linux and Windows, Thorium lists Widevine, all codecs, and HEVC/H.265 support. JPEG XL support is restored and enabled by default. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control are enabled by default, while FLoC and Privacy Sandbox are disabled. Search options include DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, Ecosia, Ask.com, and Yandex. The public source code uses the BSD-3-Clause license. Chrome Store extensions and cross-device sync are supported.
Who it suits
Thorium suits people seeking a free Chromium browser across desktop and mobile platforms. It also fits users wanting Chrome Store extensions, sync, privacy defaults, or processor-specific Linux builds.
What it does well
- Free plan across supported platforms
- Chrome Store extension support
- Cross-device sync
- JPEG XL enabled by default
- Public BSD-3-Clause source code
What to know first
- No free trial is offered
- Linux builds vary by CPU instruction set
- Security reports use GitHub issues or maintainer email
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Thorium Browser | Chromium browser builds for supported platforms; Linux package repository supports distributions using .deb packaging | Free |
As github.com lists them, read 12 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Verdict
Thorium combines Chromium compatibility with project-specific performance, media, privacy, and image-format changes. Its broad platform coverage, extension support, and open-source license make it a flexible option for Chromium users.
Facts from Thorium Browser's own pages
- Build optimization
- Builds use compiler optimizations including LTO, PGO, LLVM loop optimizations, and SIMD-specific variants. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- CPU builds
- Linux releases offer SSE3, SSE4, AVX, and AVX2 variants for different CPUs. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Download platforms
- The official site links to builds for Linux, Windows, macOS, Android, Raspberry Pi, and Windows on ARM. · thorium.rocks, 12 Oct 2026
- Image format
- JPEG XL support is restored and enabled by default. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Linux updates
- The site provides a .deb package repository and installation instructions using apt. · thorium.rocks, 12 Oct 2026
- Maintainer location
- The maintainer says he lives in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, U.S. · thorium.rocks, 12 Oct 2026
- Media support
- The project lists Widevine, all codecs, and HEVC/H.265 support on Linux and Windows. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Open source
- The GitHub repository identifies Thorium as public source code under the BSD-3-Clause license. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Performance
- The project site reports an 8–38% performance improvement over vanilla Chromium depending on benchmark and operating system. · thorium.rocks, 12 Oct 2026
- Privacy features
- Thorium enables Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control by default and disables FLoC and Privacy Sandbox. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Product
- Thorium is a Chromium fork intended to behave like Google Chrome, with its own patches and enhancements. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Search integrations
- The project lists DuckDuckGo, Brave Search, Ecosia, Ask.com, and Yandex among its included search engines. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Security reporting
- The security policy directs Chromium vulnerabilities upstream and asks users to report Thorium vulnerabilities through GitHub issues, with major or zero-day issues emailed to the maintainer. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Support and community
- The project links to a subreddit for Thorium and Chromium discussion and provides a GitHub repository for issues. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Where Thorium Browser stands on Freedom251
- Web browsers#118 of 154