
Ask HN: Are there any examples of profitable Google Chrome extensions? - ThomPete
I have been trying to see if I could find any Google Chrome extension that were either profitable or at least created revenue so far without any luck.
======
owenwil
Adblock Plus seems to have a very good business model extorting money from
Google and others to show their ads.
[http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/adblock-plus-accused-of-
sha...](http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/adblock-plus-accused-of-shaking-down-
websites/)

~~~
5h
That website popped up another one of those "Subscribe to get our newsletter"
things that are infuriatingly common nowadays.

I always enter some variation of "nobody-likes-popups@digitaltrends.com" with
the domain changed to suit in the vain hope it tips the balance in a
discussion someday.

~~~
anc84
I do the same.
[http://thosefuckingpopups.tumblr.com/](http://thosefuckingpopups.tumblr.com/)
collects screenshots of people who join the cause.

Be aware that simply disabling Javascript by default and only whitelisting it
when you need it gets rid of obnoxious brain stressers like these.

------
bharadwaj6
Postman is a great example for this.
[https://www.getpostman.com/](https://www.getpostman.com/)

They're based out of India and they have been featured in TC too.
[http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/26/postman-api-
platform-1-mill...](http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/26/postman-api-
platform-1-million/)

~~~
coreymaass
I love postman, but how do they make money from it?

~~~
j_horvat
There are paid licenses for the standalone chrome app (not the extension) that
let you do extra things like pre/post JS processing on requests. I think the
licenses are also tied to their new sync feature which would let you sync a
collection of requests (say all your API requests) across your team.

~~~
coreymaass
Oh, nice. I couldn't make heads or tails of their website. Seems like a lot of
potential there, tho, for sure.

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OmarIsmail
These are extensions that make money and are just in Gmail.

Us (Streak YCS11) Yesware Boomerang Bananatag RightInbox Grammarly Cirrus
Insight Minmax

------
atsaloli
I just signed up for the $39/mo plan for Streak CRM (www.streak.com) -- the
product rocks and the support has been phenomenal (thanks, Andrew!).

You have to install the Streak Chrome extension to get the CRM inside your
Gmail.

------
Synergyse
Synergyse provides interactive training inside Google Apps, our extension is
deployed at over 2000 organizations supporting 2.5m+ users.

[https://www.synergyse.com](https://www.synergyse.com)

------
maximmcnair
Zenmate, One click VPN, have a premium version for €5 a month
[https://zenmate.com/](https://zenmate.com/)

------
pkfrank
Honey ([http://www.joinhoney.com/](http://www.joinhoney.com/)), the automatic
coupon-finding extension does pretty well.

Our textbook price-comparison extension
([http://www.OccupyTheBookstore.com](http://www.OccupyTheBookstore.com))
generated 5-figures during the January back-to-school rush.

------
eswat
Not sure how profitable it is, but Dimensions costs $1 per year and I’ve been
using it for a while
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dimensions/oajdmmi...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dimensions/oajdmmikmphdckpkjgkdofoegppahcak?hl=en)

~~~
geordee
I used to use Dimensions (paid, I was reminded just now), but the latest
Chrome Dev Tools made the space very competitive.

------
kyllo
LastPass's Chrome (and Firefox and IE) extension is a big part of their
product and they definitely have some revenue.

------
yellowbeard
The camelizer will create price alerts for amazon and makes money.
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-
camelizer/ghno...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/the-
camelizer/ghnomdcacenbmilgjigehppbamfndblo?hl=en)

------
obisw4n
I've created an anti-adware/malware extension called Extension Defender which
has a free and paid offering, the paid offering has made around ~$750

[https://www.extensiondefender.com/](https://www.extensiondefender.com/)

[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/extension-
defender...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/extension-
defender/lkakdehcmmnojcdalpkfgmhphnicaonm)

I've had a few emails about our Enterprise offering but I have not had to the
time to really land the sales. I know there are alot of people on HN looking
to acquire projects, if someone is interested in the project, you can contact
me at contact@extensiondefender.com

------
rory096
Boomerang for Gmail

[http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/06/09/turn-
paywall-c...](http://thenextweb.com/entrepreneur/2014/06/09/turn-paywall-cash-
windfall/)

------
batuhanicoz
Hola VPN is a very good example[0].

[0]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9614993](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9614993)

------
jordinl
Invisible hand:
[http://www.getinvisiblehand.com/](http://www.getinvisiblehand.com/)
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/invisiblehand/lghj...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/invisiblehand/lghjfnfolmcikomdjmoiemllfnlmmoko)

------
conorgil145
I work at Virtru and we create software to allow people to send end-to-end
encrypted email directly from Gmail. Our Chrome Extension is our most
downloaded client and customers can purchase the Virtru Pro plan for more
advanced features.

[https://www.virtru.com/other-platforms/](https://www.virtru.com/other-
platforms/)

------
hyperbeing
JSTorrent :
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jstorrent/anhdpjpo...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jstorrent/anhdpjpojoipgpmfanmedjghaligalgb?hl=en)

------
ollerac
Mixmax seems to be doing well with a Chrome extension for Gmail. Not sure if
they're profitable though.

[https://mixmax.com/](https://mixmax.com/)

(I found out about them because they use Meteor.js and blog about it)

------
amelius
I guess at this moment, the conclusion is: not really, but there are a few
exceptions.

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wyc
Rescuetime isn't extension-only, but the extension is arguably an important
part of the product, and I like the product lot.

[https://www.rescuetime.com/](https://www.rescuetime.com/)

------
Lorenzo45
The company I'm interning at right now works on a chrome extension that helps
teams manage projects in GitHub.
[https://www.zenhub.io](https://www.zenhub.io)

------
flippyhead
We do alright with [http://fetching.io](http://fetching.io). The extension
itself is free but it's a critical part of our paid for product.

~~~
zerr
Could you please share Cloud vs Native usage ratio/%?

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geordee
Entanglement is a game I considered buying. I have bought only Postman so far.
In fact, I find the "native" desktop software for REST API testing less
friendly than Postman.

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edwinyzh
So far most mentioned profitable extensions are for Gmail?!

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Varkiil
You are looking for an extension that automatically generates money ? I'm
afraid neither Google nor anyone has developed such thing yet.

~~~
Varkiil
Of course this was a joke.

Jokes aside Adblock Plus has got a pretty good business model based on ads
whitelisting
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adblock_Plus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adblock_Plus))

