Blog
Practical, researched answers to the questions that come up when you build and monetize a browser extension: auth, payments, store policy, and migrations.
General
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Selling a Chrome Extension to Free Users Without Burning Trust
How to convert free chrome extension users to paid without review-storm blowback: value-first paywall timing, dismissible walls, Chrome Web Store bait-and-switch policy, grandfathering, refund signals, and announcing a paid launch.
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What is ExtensionStart?
A plain-English overview of ExtensionStart: a production-grade WXT + React 19 starter kit for building paid MV3 browser extensions with working auth, Stripe billing, and policy-safe paywalls.
Auth
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Anonymous-First Auth for Chrome Extensions: Let Users Start Before They Sign Up
The anonymous-first Firebase Auth pattern for chrome extensions: guest uids at install, uid-preserving account linking with linkWithCredential, conflict handling, and when not to use it.
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Firebase Auth in Manifest V3: Service Workers, Storage, and the Traps
How to run Firebase Auth in an MV3 chrome extension: the firebase/auth/web-extension entry point, authStateReady, the single-writer storage pattern, and token hygiene.
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Google Sign-In in a Chrome Extension: The 3 Approaches That Actually Work in MV3
The three Google login flows that work in a Manifest V3 Chrome extension: getAuthToken, launchWebAuthFlow, and offscreen documents.
Payments
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Chrome Extension Payment Providers: Stripe vs Paddle vs Lemon Squeezy vs Polar
Choosing a payment provider for a chrome extension: merchant-of-record vs payments-only (and what that means for sales tax and VAT), verified current fees, the webhook/entitlement architecture every provider needs, and avoiding lock-in.
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Chrome Extension Pricing Models: What Top Extensions Actually Charge
Verified price points from successful chrome extensions (HARPA, Keywords Everywhere, Wordtune), subscription vs lifetime math, the credits model for AI-cost products, the fake-unlimited trap, and honest anchoring.
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How to Monetize a Chrome Extension: The Six Models That Actually Work
Every real way to make money with a chrome extension (one-time purchases, subscriptions, credits, freemium gates, donations, and B2B licensing) with honest pros and cons, what Chrome Web Store policy allows, and how to pick for your product.
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Adding Stripe Payments to a Chrome Extension: The Architecture That Passes Review
How to monetize a chrome extension with Stripe: checkout-session redirects, webhook-written entitlements, server-enforced trials, and the storage-mirror pattern for instant UI.