Extension Reviewer

Changelog

What changed, and when.

Every entry here is a real date. New reviews are logged when their facts are verified, and we never backdate content to simulate archive history.

20 broader reviews added and the directory reshuffled

Aug. 30, 2026. Expanded coverage from 79 to 99 extensions across research, focus, privacy, accessibility, developer tools, and AI. The default review directory now uses a stable topic interleave instead of source-file insertion order, so new batches never read like rankings or appear as long same-topic runs. Store facts for the new records were verified August 30, 2026.

Safety reviews, a proofreading guide, and better cross-linking

Aug. 20, 2026. Eight reviews now answer 'Is it safe?' directly — permission scope, the listing's own disclosed-data categories, and a visible FAQ — with a new safety hub at /guides/extension-safety explaining the taxonomy. Added the Best Proofreading and Grammar Extensions ranked guide, placed Kami and Notion Web Clipper in the research guide, fixed review Alternatives to show actual alternatives, and made every comparison derive its store numbers from the verified records instead of hand-copied text.

Rating system rebuilt: plainer verdicts, published evidence

Aug. 20, 2026. Renamed the three verdicts to say what they mean—Recommended, Worth it with caveats, and Not our pick—and required every non-recommended review to name its specific reason next to the badge. Each review now also shows four signals read straight from the store listing we cite: adoption, rating in category context, upkeep, and cost. The exact thresholds behind every signal, and the live split of reviews across the three verdicts, are published at /ratings. Verdicts remain editorial judgments, and the site still publishes no numeric scores.

40 reviews added across every extension category

Aug. 20, 2026. Expanded the directory from 39 to 79 reviews with five additions in each of the eight categories. Store ratings, rating counts, users, versions, and update dates were verified against the live Chrome Web Store listings on August 20, 2026.

Write It review added to auto-typers category

Aug. 13, 2026. Added a sourced review of Write It: Humanizer and Auto Typer (Recommended verdict), verified against its live Chrome Web Store listing and official site on August 13, 2026. Updated the Google Docs auto typers guide. Coverage now stands at 39 extensions.

Two AI rewriting extensions added to the writing category

Aug. 11, 2026. Added source reviews of Undetectable AI (Mixed verdict) and Phrasely (Approach with caution), both verified against their live Chrome Web Store listings the same day. Both products are marketed on evading AI detectors; we report that as a publisher claim, do not test it, and note that it commonly conflicts with academic and workplace policy. Coverage now stands at 38 extensions.

Verdict tiers and category standings added

Aug. 10, 2026. Every review now carries a three-level verdict tier—Recommended, Mixed verdict, or Approach with caution—plus a 'Where it stands' panel ranking it against category peers on store rating and public installs and listing the jobs it wins in our ranked guides. Tiers are editorial judgments from public evidence; the site still publishes no numeric scores.

Coverage reaches 36 extensions across 8 categories

Aug. 10, 2026. Added 21 source-reviewed extensions spanning privacy and security, developer tools, accessibility and reading, focus and study, research, and writing—every record verified against its live Chrome Web Store listing the same day. Also added four ranked guides, five head-to-head comparisons, and a comparisons index.

Extension Reviewer launches

Aug. 10, 2026. First public release: source-reviewed Chrome extension coverage built on a public-source methodology, a strict conflict-of-interest rule, no editorial scores, and no affiliate links.

Review verification dates