SigmaOS vs Chromium

SigmaOS is a more unique productivity browser in the space.

SigmaOS tried to re-think how a browser layout should be, and build in layers of productivity along the way (not too dissimilar to that of Arc Browser).

The thing is, Sigma has quite minimal funding, and in the browser space, you're competing with companies that have billions of dollars to throw at improving the browser (Google Chrome, Edge, Safari), so when comparing it to those, it's tough to see how they'll manage to compete.

That said, even just comparing SigmaOS to that of Arc, Arc has raised over $100M to take on this incredibly competitive space, whereas SigmaOS is trying to fight having raised likely less than $2M. It's also tough to understand if people are actually willing to pay for a browser, and at $20/mo on the paid tiers for SigmaOS, it just feels like Arc is the more likely winner here.

SigmaOS does make some pretty different opinionated design decisions though, it's worth a shot checking out if you want to try something fresh and new, though not sure we'd bet on it ultimately taking up any meaningful browser marketshare.

Chromium is something you're likely using right now without even realizing it. Are you using Arc Browser, Chrome, Brave, or even Microsoft Edge right now? Okay, then you're using Chromium.

You know those extensions you have in the top-right corner? Yep, those are Chromium extensions (often referred to as "Chrome Extensions"). Little do people know, Google built an open-source foundation to the browser, for which most of the top browsers on the market use as their foundation.

I mean you're not exactly looking at traditional competition here, but Apple does use a competing standard called Webkit. So if you're using Safari on your computer, that's running on Webkit instead of Chromium.

The super interesting part here though is if you're using iOS, any browser you're using is actually built atop Webkit—even Google Chrome. Apple requires Webkit be used on iOS regardless.

Why exactly? Well, Google pays Apple some $20bn per year to be the default search engine in Safari, so holding onto Webkit on iOS and iPad is probably one of their leverage points:

“At-least we still own the foundation of the browser for our products!”
-Apple (probably) 🤷

This genuinely probably doesn't mean much to you, but you're probably using Chromium and you probably don't care.

Just know that it makes for switching between Chromium-based browsers far easier—from transferring bookmarks, to extensions, and everything inbetween.