Helium
A lightweight, open-source browser designed for privacy and minimalism. Blocks ads, trackers, and fingerprinting while offering customizable layouts, vertical tabs, and local !bangs for faster searches.
Helium is an open-source alternative to:
Helium is a privacy-first browser that prioritizes user control and minimalism. By default, it blocks ads, trackers, cookie banners, and third-party cookies while tampering with fingerprinting techniques. The browser is lightweight, resource-efficient, and designed to get out of your way with customizable layouts, themes, and features like Frameless mode, vertical tabs, split view, and tab groups.
Key Features
- Privacy by Default: Blocks ads, trackers, and fingerprinting without requiring opt-outs. No data collection or background requests without consent.
- Customizable Interface: Choose from 4 layout options, customize toolbars, and apply color themes. Frameless mode for distraction-free browsing.
- Productivity Tools: Supports all Chromium extensions, customizable keyboard shortcuts, web app installs, vertical tabs, split view, quick link copying, MRU tabbing, and tab groups.
- Performance Optimized: Automatically optimizes resource usage. Hibernate inactive tabs to save battery and memory.
- Local !bangs: Built-in bangs for direct searches to thousands of websites without intermediary pages. Processed locally for speed and privacy.
- Open Source: All components are open source and available on GitHub. Transparent development with public commits, builds, and releases.
- No Bloat: Clean, minimal interface with no ads, analytics, or first-party tracking.
- Cross-Platform: Available for Linux, macOS, and Windows with automatic updates.
Tech / Self-Hosting
Helium is built on Chromium and is fully open source. Users can self-host Helium services, build from source, or contribute to the project. The browser supports all Chromium extensions and can import settings from other Chromium-based browsers. Helium services are anonymous and do not collect personal data.