What is Chromium Drift?

Chromium Drift is a dashboard that tracks which Chromium version each major desktop browser is currently shipping, so you can see at a glance how far behind Chrome Stable any given browser has drifted. It's useful if you want to know whether your browser is running an older Chromium build that may lack recent security patches or web APIs, or if you're comparing browsers and want to understand how current each one's engine actually is.

What the dashboard shows

The core of the site is a version comparison across major Chromium-based desktop browsers. Each browser is placed against Chrome Stable's Chromium major version and given a color-coded status:

The point of the color coding is to make version lag visible without you having to cross-reference release notes yourself.

Why Chromium version lag matters

According to the site, when a browser ships an older Chromium version, its users may be exposed to known, already-patched security vulnerabilities. Older Chromium versions also miss the latest Web APIs and features, which can cause website compatibility issues.

That said, the dashboard is careful not to equate "behind" with "insecure" outright — see the caveat below.

How the versions are detected and updated

Different browsers are tracked in different ways:

• Live-fetched browsers are pulled from public APIs on each page load, so they update every time you visit.
• CI-detected browsers are checked once daily via GitHub Actions, extracting version info from their binaries.

The site links to version fetching docs for the details.

Common questions the site answers

Why does my browser show a different version than the dashboard?

Browsers roll out updates gradually. The dashboard shows the version officially designated as stable, but a new version may not reach all users for a day or two. For Chrome specifically, it shows the newest release that system administrators can pin, which excludes partial rollouts and A/B test builds.

Why does a browser newer than Chrome Stable still show as "up to date"?

Google rolls out each Chrome Stable release gradually, so the version reported on the dashboard can briefly lag the newest Chromium major even after that major has shipped. Another Chromium browser that has already picked up the newer major isn't behind, so it's shown as blue.

Does being a major version behind mean a browser is insecure?

Not necessarily. Some browsers intentionally track Chromium's Extended Stable channel and backport security fixes from newer releases. Being a major version behind on the version number does not always mean missing security patches.

Why isn't my browser listed?

The dashboard covers major Chromium-based desktop browsers. If you want another browser added, the site points to opening an issue on its GitHub repo.

Checking your own browser

If you want to see which Chromium version you're actually running, the site links to chromiumchecker.com. This is worth doing because some browsers use their own versioning scheme that doesn't line up directly with Chromium's version numbers — which is also what makes it hard to tell which Chromium version they're based on just from the browser's own "About" page.

Who this is for

Chromium Drift is most useful if you:

• Want a quick read on whether a browser you use or support is trailing Chrome Stable.
• Are comparing Chromium-based browsers and care about engine currency.
• Need to explain version lag to others without digging through per-browser release channels.

It is not a vulnerability scanner and doesn't give per-CVE detail — it's a version-tracking reference, and the site itself notes that a version gap doesn't automatically mean missing patches.