Remember that free RAM is wasted RAM that you already paid for. As a result, modern browsers will behave differently in a RAM-rich vs. RAM-lean environment. If there’s wasted space lying around the browser will just hold on to everything on the off chance that it’s needed again, but will more aggressively purge things if you start running out of RAM.

Keep in mind that when I say “the browser” I also mean Spotify and Discord because those are Electron apps which means they are actually just Chrome tabs in a trench coat.