We checked the 150 most popular Chrome extensions

Most of these extensions need broad access to do their job: an ad blocker, a password manager or a grammar checker can't work without reading the pages you open. We rate all 148 of them as low risk today. They're popular, maintained and have a named developer.

The risk is what happens next. Extensions get sold, and the new owner inherits the users, the reviews and every one of those permissions. Chrome installs the next update silently and never says that someone else is now behind it. In one campaign reported this year, attackers bought established extensions and turned them into password and crypto-wallet stealers.

How many of the 148 extensions ask for each permission.

12 extensions with access to every website, used by 20 million people combined, haven't shipped an update in more than a year. That doesn't make them unsafe, and some are simply finished. But a popular extension that's no longer maintained is exactly what buyers look for.

Every extension above links to its own page with the full store details. The raw data is available as JSON, free to reuse with a link back.

What this page can't see

A store listing doesn't show what an extension can access on your computer, and it can't warn you later. Extensions get sold, and the next silent update can change everything.

Extension Guardian watches the extensions you have installed and warns you when one changes owner, gains new permissions or disappears from the store. Free, open source, no account.