Picking a Chromium browser for a Mac without losing your extensions

For most people on a Mac, the best Chromium browser is the one that keeps the extensions they depend on working, runs on the macOS version they have, and ships with defaults they would otherwise have to add by hand. On those three tests, Brave stands out for built-in blocking and its continued support for four Manifest V2 extensions, Vivaldi for organizing many tabs, Edge for project workspaces tied to a Microsoft account, and Chrome for being the reference that every extension is tested on first. Arc is still usable but now receives Chromium updates only.

This site is published by the developer of SpaceDeck, a macOS app aggregation browser that is also built on Chromium. Every requirement and policy below was checked on the vendors' own pages on October 18, 2026.

Why the engine is not the deciding factor

Chrome, Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera and Arc all render pages with the same open-source Chromium engine. Page compatibility is effectively identical. A site that works in Chrome works in the others, and benchmark gaps between them on a recent Mac are small enough that most people never notice them in daily use.

What differs is everything built around the engine:

• Extension policy. Which extension formats the browser still allows, and where you install them from.
• System support. Which macOS versions still receive updates.
• Defaults. What is blocked, collected or switched on before you touch the settings.
• Organizing features. Profiles, workspaces, tab stacks and vertical tabs.
• Project direction. Whether the browser is still where its maker invests.

Ranking by speed hides all five. A better approach is to start from what you cannot give up, usually a handful of extensions and a work account, and eliminate the browsers that cannot hold them.

Extensions: the Manifest V2 deadline already passed

The biggest change in the Chromium world over the last two years is the end of Manifest V2, the older extension format. Many content blockers, including the original uBlock Origin, were built on it.

Google's Manifest V2 support timeline lays out what happened. With Chrome 138, Manifest V2 extensions were disabled for all users on all channels, and users can no longer turn them back on. The enterprise policy that kept them alive was removed with Chrome 139. On August 31, 2026, all remaining Manifest V2 extensions were removed from the Chrome Web Store. Existing installs on Chrome 138 or earlier still run, but they cannot be updated or reinstalled.

Other Chromium browsers inherit this unless they patch around it:

Browser	Manifest V2 status (official source)
Chrome	Disabled since Chrome 138; removed from the Chrome Web Store on August 31, 2026
Brave	Hosts four MV2 extensions itself from v1.81: AdGuard, uBlock Origin, uMatrix, NoScript
Edge	Deprecation warnings to some users from mid-September 2026; enterprise deprecation expected to begin early 2027

Brave's explanation is on its post about Manifest V3 and Brave Shields. It says the four supported extensions are hosted on Brave's backend, are separate from the Chrome Web Store versions, and are enabled from the brave://settings/extensions/v2 page. Other MV2 extensions are disabled once Google removes them from the store, and Brave calls the arrangement best-effort. Microsoft's schedule is on the Edge Manifest V3 timeline, last updated September 15, 2026.

The practical takeaway: if an extension you rely on was Manifest V2 only and has no V3 version, Brave is the one mainstream Chromium browser that has publicly committed to keeping a short, named list running. For anything else, check whether the extension has a Manifest V3 release before you choose a browser around it.

Where your extensions come from

The second extension question is simpler. Most Chromium browsers install from the Chrome Web Store directly.

Microsoft's support article on adding extensions to Edge states that extensions designed for Google Chrome can be used in Edge: open the Chrome Web Store in Edge, pick the extension and choose Get extension. Edge also has its own Edge Add-ons store.

Vivaldi installs from the Chrome Web Store with an Add to Vivaldi button. Its extensions help page notes that if the button does not appear, the Web Store option under Settings > Privacy and Security > Google Extensions must be enabled. Brave and Opera can also run extensions built for Chrome.

What does not move automatically is the set of extensions you have installed. Chrome's own import help page lists what a browser switch can bring along: browsing history, homepage, bookmarks, search engines and saved passwords. Extensions are not on that list. When you switch, expect to reinstall each extension and sign in to it again. A quick inventory first, from chrome://extensions, saves an evening of remembering what was there.

Profiles matter here too. Vivaldi's user profiles page states that each profile can have a different set of extensions, bookmarks, cookies and history. If you keep a work profile and a personal one, the extension list is two lists.

macOS support: check the row for your oldest Mac

The minimum macOS version has quietly moved up across Chromium browsers. This matters most for an older Intel Mac that cannot install recent macOS releases.

Browser	Mac requirement, as published
Chrome	macOS 13 Ventura and up
Edge	macOS 13 or later required from Edge 151; macOS 12 was supported through Edge 150
Vivaldi	macOS 13+ (64-bit), per the download page
Opera	macOS Universal build offered; check the download page for the current minimum

Sources: Chrome browser system requirements, Microsoft Edge supported operating systems, and Vivaldi's download page.

If one of your Macs is on macOS 12 Monterey, Chrome and current Edge no longer support it according to these pages. A browser that stops updating is a browser that stops receiving security fixes, so this row can make the decision on its own.

Defaults and organizing features, browser by browser

Once extensions and system support are settled, the remaining differences are about what each browser adds.

Chrome

Chrome is the baseline. Recent versions added vertical tabs (on a Mac, View > Show Tabs Vertically), tab groups that sync across devices, tab search with Command + Shift + A, and Memory Saver with three levels. Its strength is that it is the browser extension developers publish for first, through the Chrome Web Store that the other browsers also draw on.

Edge

Edge adds Workspaces, sets of tabs and favorites per project. They require Edge 144 or later and sign-in with a Microsoft account or Microsoft Entra ID, and Microsoft notes that sharing workspaces is not supported in the new Workspaces experience. Edge also has vertical tabs and sleeping tabs. It is a natural fit when work runs on Microsoft 365.

Brave

Brave's case is its defaults. Brave Shields block third-party ads and trackers, block cross-site cookies, and randomize fingerprinting APIs from the first launch, with no extension involved. Because Shields are patched into Brave's Chromium build, the Manifest V3 change does not weaken them, according to Brave.

Vivaldi

Vivaldi is the configurable one. Workspaces show only the tabs in the selected workspace, Tab Stacks group tabs inside it, and Tab Tiling puts several tabs side by side or in a grid. Workspaces are saved automatically when the browser closes.

Opera

Opera's download page offers a macOS Universal build of Opera One, an offline installer, and Opera GX, a variant with gaming features built into the browser. It suits people who prefer features bundled into the browser rather than added one extension at a time.

Arc and Dia

Arc's home page now says Arc receives Chromium updates only and points people who need active security patches to Dia, from the same company. Arc remains usable. For a new setup that will last years, that note is relevant.

Ungoogled Chromium

For people who want Chromium itself, the ungoogled-chromium project describes itself as Chromium without dependency on Google web services, keeping the default Chromium experience as closely as possible. It trades convenience features tied to Google services for control.

Memory: every Chromium browser sleeps tabs, with different rules

Because they share an engine, Chromium browsers also share a similar memory profile, and each one now ships its own way of putting background tabs to sleep. The rules about what stays awake are where they differ in practice.

Chrome's performance settings page describes Memory Saver with three levels: Moderate, Balanced (recommended) and Maximum. It also lists what prevents a tab from being deactivated, including active audio or video, screen sharing, page notifications, active downloads, partially filled forms and pinned tabs. A separate list, "Always keep these sites active", exempts chosen sites. On a Mac, Chrome can also show each tab's memory use on the hover preview card when "Show memory usage on tab hover preview card" is turned on under Appearance.

Edge calls the same idea sleeping tabs and shows sleeping tabs greyed out, as its vertical tabs page explains. The consequence is the same in both: pinning a dozen web apps keeps all of them awake. If memory pressure is the reason for switching browsers, check how many tabs are pinned first, because a different Chromium browser will treat those pinned tabs in much the same way.

When the real problem is accounts, not the browser

A common reason to go looking for a new Chromium browser is not extensions at all. It is that three Gmail accounts, two Slack workspaces and a client's Microsoft 365 keep signing each other out, and twenty tabs make the right one hard to find.

Profiles solve part of this by giving each identity its own window. They do not put three accounts of the same service side by side in one window, and switching between windows all day is its own friction.

A separate category of Chromium-based tool handles this case directly: the app aggregation browser. Each web app sits in a sidebar rail and gets its own cookie container, so the same service can stay signed in under several accounts at once, and notifications from every app arrive in one place. Wavebox, Shift, Rambox and Ferdium are the established names. They differ on free-tier limits and whether a vendor account is required; the comparison with Ferdium lays out those rows, including the ones where each product is stronger.

Many people end up with two tools: a regular Chromium browser for reading and research, and an app aggregation browser for the apps that stay open all day.

A short decision path

1. List your must-keep extensions. Check each one for a Manifest V3 version. If one has none, Brave's list of four is the only mainstream fallback.
2. Check your oldest Mac. If it is on macOS 12 or earlier, Chrome, current Edge and Vivaldi are out for that machine, according to their own pages.
3. Pick on defaults or organizing. Blocking without extensions points to Brave. Many tabs per project points to Vivaldi or Edge. Workspace features tied to a Google account point to Chrome.
4. Count accounts per service. Two or more on the same service, used all day, is a sign that profiles alone will not be enough.
5. Run both for a week. Keep the old browser intact until the new one has carried a full working week.

What to change first

Start with the extension inventory and the macOS row, because they rule browsers out rather than in. If the remaining pain is juggling accounts across web apps, try an app aggregation browser such as SpaceDeck next to the Chromium browser you choose.