The Difference between Google Chrome and Chromium on Linux

Chromium on Linux has two general flavors: You can either get Google Chrome or chromium-browser (see Linux Chromium Packages). This page tries to describe the differences between the two.

In short, Google Chrome is the Chromium open source project built, packaged, and distributed by Google. This table lists what Google adds to the Google Chrome builds on Linux.

Google Chrome

Colorful logo

Reports crashes only if turned on. Please include symbolized backtraces in bug reports if you don't have crash reporting turned on.

User metrics only if turned on

Video and Audio codecs (may vary by distro) AAC, H.264, MP3, Opus, Theora, Vorbis, VP8, VP9, and WAV

Sandboxed PPAPI (non-free) Flash plugin included in release

Code is tested by Chrome developers

Sandbox is always on

Single deb/rpm package

Profile is kept in ~/.config/google-chrome

Cache is kept in ~/.cache/google-chrome

New releases are tested before being sent to users

Google API keys are added by Google

Chromium