Why TabCost
TabCost is a lightweight Chrome extension that helps you quickly identify “expensive” tabs so Chrome stays responsive.
It highlights tabs that consume high memory or show high activity and lets you hibernate (discard) idle tabs with one click.
Key Features
Per-tab memory estimate (JS heap) and activity estimate
Filters: All / Heavy / Idle 10m+
Search tabs by title or URL
One-click Hibernate for selected tabs
Keyboard Shortcuts
↑ / ↓ navigate
Enter hibernate
Esc clear
Ctrl/Cmd + K search
How TabCost Works
TabCost computes per-tab metrics using local browser performance signals. All processing happens locally on your device.
Signals used
Memory estimate: uses performance.memory (when available) to estimate per-tab JavaScript heap usage.
Activity estimate: uses Performance APIs (e.g., long tasks) to estimate how “busy” a tab is.
How to use
1. Install TabCost from the Chrome Web Store.
2. Click the TabCost icon in your browser toolbar.
3. Use Search to find tabs quickly.
4. Use filters: All / Heavy / Idle 10m+.
5. Select a tab and click Hibernate (or press Enter).
6. Use Clean Up to hibernate eligible idle heavy tabs.
Notes / limitations
Some restricted pages (e.g., chrome:// pages and system pages) may show unavailable metrics.
TabCost shows JS heap memory, which is useful but not the same as total memory shown in Chrome Task Manager.
Privacy Policy — TabCost
All processing happens locally on your device. TabCost does not transmit user data to external servers.
Summary
TabCost does not collect, store, sell, or share personal data.
TabCost does not transmit user data to external servers.
All processing happens locally on your device.
Information processed locally
Tab metadata such as title, URL, favicon URL, and tab state (active/audible/discarded).
Performance signals such as JavaScript heap usage via performance.memory (when available).
Activity signals using Performance APIs (e.g., long tasks).
This data is used only to display metrics inside the extension popup and compute cost scores.