diff --git a/bench/src/main/scala-2.12/cats/bench/ChainBench.scala b/bench/src/main/scala-2.12/cats/bench/ChainBench.scala
index d0019dd16a..81c77916e9 100644
--- a/bench/src/main/scala-2.12/cats/bench/ChainBench.scala
+++ b/bench/src/main/scala-2.12/cats/bench/ChainBench.scala
@@ -88,4 +88,10 @@ class ChainBench {
 
   @Benchmark def createChainSeqOption: Chain[Int] = Chain.fromSeq(intOption.toSeq)
   @Benchmark def createChainOption: Chain[Int] = Chain.fromOption(intOption)
+
+  @Benchmark def reverseLargeList: List[Int] = largeList.reverse
+  @Benchmark def reverseLargeChain: Chain[Int] = largeChain.reverse
+
+  @Benchmark def lengthLargeList: Int = largeList.length
+  @Benchmark def lengthLargeChain: Long = largeChain.length
 }
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/Chain.scala b/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/Chain.scala
index 669364cf4e..9453f7b729 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/Chain.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/cats/data/Chain.scala
@@ -503,8 +503,38 @@ sealed abstract class Chain[+A] extends ChainCompat[A] {
   /**
    * Reverses this `Chain`
    */
-  def reverse: Chain[A] =
-    fromSeq(reverseIterator.toVector)
+  def reverse: Chain[A] = {
+    @annotation.tailrec
+    def loop[B <: A](h: Chain.NonEmpty[B], tail: List[Chain.NonEmpty[B]], acc: Chain[A]): Chain[A] =
+      h match {
+        case Append(l, r) => loop(l, r :: tail, acc)
+        case sing @ Singleton(_) =>
+          val nextAcc = sing.concat(acc)
+          tail match {
+            case h1 :: t1 =>
+              loop(h1, t1, nextAcc)
+            case _ =>
+              nextAcc
+          }
+        case Wrap(seq) =>
+          val nextAcc = Wrap(seq.reverse).concat(acc)
+          tail match {
+            case h1 :: t1 =>
+              loop(h1, t1, nextAcc)
+            case _ =>
+              nextAcc
+          }
+      }
+
+    this match {
+      case Append(l, r) =>
+        loop(l, r :: Nil, Empty)
+      case Wrap(seq) => Wrap(seq.reverse)
+      case _         =>
+        // Empty | Singleton(_)
+        this
+    }
+  }
 
   /**
    * Yields to Some(a, Chain[A]) with `a` removed where `f` holds for the first time,
@@ -587,19 +617,35 @@ sealed abstract class Chain[+A] extends ChainCompat[A] {
    * Returns the number of elements in this structure
    */
   final def length: Long = {
+    // This is an optimized (unboxed) implementation
+    // of the same code as foldLeft
     @annotation.tailrec
-    def loop(chains: List[Chain[A]], acc: Long): Long =
-      chains match {
-        case Nil => acc
-        case h :: tail =>
-          h match {
-            case Empty        => loop(tail, acc)
-            case Wrap(seq)    => loop(tail, acc + seq.length)
-            case Singleton(a) => loop(tail, acc + 1)
-            case Append(l, r) => loop(l :: r :: tail, acc)
+    def loop(head: Chain.NonEmpty[A], tail: List[Chain.NonEmpty[A]], acc: Long): Long =
+      head match {
+        case Append(l, r) => loop(l, r :: tail, acc)
+        case Singleton(_) =>
+          val nextAcc = acc + 1L
+          tail match {
+            case h1 :: t1 =>
+              loop(h1, t1, nextAcc)
+            case _ =>
+              nextAcc
+          }
+        case Wrap(seq) =>
+          val nextAcc = acc + seq.length.toLong
+          tail match {
+            case h1 :: t1 =>
+              loop(h1, t1, nextAcc)
+            case _ =>
+              nextAcc
           }
       }
-    loop(this :: Nil, 0L)
+
+    this match {
+      case ne: Chain.NonEmpty[A] =>
+        loop(ne, Nil, 0L)
+      case _ => 0L
+    }
   }
 
   /**
@@ -632,28 +678,37 @@ sealed abstract class Chain[+A] extends ChainCompat[A] {
    * }}}
    */
   final def lengthCompare(len: Long): Int = {
-    import java.lang.Long
-    this match {
-      // `isEmpty` check should be faster than `== Chain.Empty`,
-      // but the compiler fails to prove that the match is still exhaustive.
-      case _ if isEmpty       => Long.compare(0L, len)
-      case Chain.Singleton(_) => Long.compare(1L, len)
-      case _ if len < 2       => 1 // the following cases should always have `length >= 2`
-      case Chain.Wrap(seq) =>
-        if (len > Int.MaxValue) -1 // `Seq#length` has `Int` type so cannot be `> Int.MaxValue`
-        else
-          seq.lengthCompare(len.toInt)
-      case _ => // should always be `Chain.Append` (i.e. `NonEmpty` with 2+ elements)
-        var sz = 2L
-        val it = new ChainIterator(this)
-        it.next()
-        it.next()
-        while (it.hasNext) {
-          if (sz == len) return 1
-          it.next()
-          sz += 1L
+    // This is an optimized (unboxed) implementation
+    // of the same code as foldLeft
+    @annotation.tailrec
+    def loop(head: Chain.NonEmpty[A], tail: List[Chain.NonEmpty[A]], len: Long): Int =
+      if (len <= 0L) 1 // head is nonempty
+      else
+        head match {
+          case Append(l, r) => loop(l, r :: tail, len)
+          case Singleton(_) =>
+            tail match {
+              case h1 :: t1 =>
+                loop(h1, t1, len - 1L)
+              case _ =>
+                java.lang.Long.compare(1L, len)
+            }
+          case Wrap(seq) =>
+            val c =
+              if (len <= Int.MaxValue) seq.lengthCompare(len.toInt)
+              else -1
+            tail match {
+              case h1 :: t1 =>
+                if (c >= 0) 1 // there is definitely more in tail
+                else loop(h1, t1, len - seq.length)
+              case _ => c
+            }
         }
-        Long.compare(sz, len)
+
+    this match {
+      case ne: Chain.NonEmpty[A] =>
+        loop(ne, Nil, len)
+      case _ => java.lang.Long.compare(0L, len)
     }
   }
 
@@ -767,18 +822,20 @@ sealed abstract class Chain[+A] extends ChainCompat[A] {
 
   final def sortBy[B](f: A => B)(implicit B: Order[B]): Chain[A] =
     this match {
-      case Singleton(_) => this
       case Append(_, _) => Wrap(toVector.sortBy(f)(B.toOrdering))
       case Wrap(seq)    => Wrap(seq.sortBy(f)(B.toOrdering))
-      case _            => this
+      case _            =>
+        // Empty | Singleton(_)
+        this
     }
 
   final def sorted[AA >: A](implicit AA: Order[AA]): Chain[AA] =
     this match {
-      case Singleton(_) => this
       case Append(_, _) => Wrap(toVector.sorted(AA.toOrdering))
       case Wrap(seq)    => Wrap(seq.sorted(AA.toOrdering))
-      case _            => this
+      case _            =>
+        // Empty | Singleton(_)
+        this
     }
 }
 
@@ -1115,6 +1172,9 @@ sealed abstract private[data] class ChainInstances extends ChainInstances1 {
         Eval.defer(loop(fa))
       }
 
+      override def foldMap[A, B](fa: Chain[A])(f: A => B)(implicit B: Monoid[B]): B =
+        B.combineAll(fa.iterator.map(f))
+
       override def map[A, B](fa: Chain[A])(f: A => B): Chain[B] = fa.map(f)
       override def toList[A](fa: Chain[A]): List[A] = fa.toList
       override def isEmpty[A](fa: Chain[A]): Boolean = fa.isEmpty
diff --git a/tests/shared/src/test/scala/cats/tests/ChainSuite.scala b/tests/shared/src/test/scala/cats/tests/ChainSuite.scala
index 099f2bd246..f568639e48 100644
--- a/tests/shared/src/test/scala/cats/tests/ChainSuite.scala
+++ b/tests/shared/src/test/scala/cats/tests/ChainSuite.scala
@@ -434,4 +434,10 @@ class ChainSuite extends CatsSuite {
 
     assert(sumAll == chain.iterator.sum)
   }
+
+  test("foldRight(b)(fn) == toList.foldRight(b)(fn)") {
+    forAll { (chain: Chain[Int], init: Long, fn: (Int, Long) => Long) =>
+      assert(chain.foldRight(init)(fn) == chain.toList.foldRight(init)(fn))
+    }
+  }
 }