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imputnet/helium

A privacy-focused, Chromium-based web browser for macOS, Linux and Windows, built on ungoogled-chromium.

Open-source alternative to:Google Chrome

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What is it?

Helium is a web browser built on Chromium, aimed at users who want privacy, control over consent, and a comfortable everyday browsing experience. It originally branched off ungoogled-chromium and includes patches collected from several other open source Chromium projects.

The project is distributed for macOS, Linux and Windows, with platform-specific packaging maintained in separate repositories. Automatic updates are supported on macOS and Windows. Helium is currently in beta, so unexpected issues may occur.

The surrounding ecosystem is also open source, including a Helium-specific fork of uBlock Origin with bundled filters and CNAME uncloaking, the first-launch onboarding flow, and the cloud services for extension proxying, filter lists and crash reports, which can be self-hosted.

Key features

  • 01Built on Chromium with patches from ungoogled-chromium and other open source projects.
  • 02Available for macOS, Linux and Windows.
  • 03Automatic updates on macOS and Windows.
  • 04Includes a customized uBlock Origin fork with CNAME uncloaking.
  • 05Backend services for extension proxying, filter lists and crash reports can be self-hosted.

Use cases

  • Daily web browsing for users who want stronger privacy defaults than mainstream Chromium builds.
  • Ad and tracker blocking with built-in filter lists.
  • Developers studying or building on a privacy-oriented Chromium distribution.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Download Helium from helium.computer, which picks a compatible binary for your platform

  2. 2

    Or download the latest release for your platform from the GitHub releases pages

Things to know

  • Helium is in beta, so unexpected issues may occur.
  • Licensed under GPL-3.0, a copyleft license that requires derivative works to remain open source.

Topics

#browser#chromium#privacy#web-browser#ad-blocking#cross-platform

FAQ

What is helium?
A privacy-focused, Chromium-based web browser for macOS, Linux and Windows, built on ungoogled-chromium. Helium is a web browser built on Chromium, aimed at users who want privacy, control over consent, and a comfortable everyday browsing experience. It originally branched off ungoogled-chromium and includes patches collected from several other open source Chromium projects.
Is helium free to use? What license does it have?
helium is open source under the GPL-3.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is helium still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to helium was on Oct 20, 2026.
What can I use helium for?
Daily web browsing for users who want stronger privacy defaults than mainstream Chromium builds. Ad and tracker blocking with built-in filter lists. Developers studying or building on a privacy-oriented Chromium distribution.
How do I install helium?
Download Helium from helium.computer, which picks a compatible binary for your platform Or download the latest release for your platform from the GitHub releases pages
Where can I get helium?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/imputnet/helium

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