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I launched my side project (https://www.checkbot.io/ https://www.checkbot.io/, a website best practices checker) as a paid Chrome extension and have been happy
by seanwilson 7y ago
I launched my side project (https://www.checkbot.io/ https://www.checkbot.io/, a website best practices checker) as a paid Chrome extension and have been happy with the experience so far. The browser extension platform lets me easily support Linux, Chrome OS, Mac and Windows, with automatic updates and small installation size (~1MB). I get traffic from people discovering the extension via the Chrome store, and users can install and launch the app in seconds which lowers onboarding friction.
Compared to native apps, I think browser extension based apps reduce a lot of headaches for developers and users.
- ggurgone 7y agoLooks useful, how do you manage distribution and the payments? I am looking for examples and resources of successful paid extensions who offer subscriptions https://readmo.app https://readmo.app
- seanwilson 7y agoI use https://paddle.com/ https://paddle.com/ for subscription payments. Paddle deal with EU VAT for you which is a big benefit for me. The Chrome store lets you take payments but it's not very flexible and it's tied to Chrome.
- ggurgone 7y agoah sweet, so the extension is hosted on the Chrome Web Store but you manage payments and licenses with paddle?
- seanwilson 7y agoThat's right. This gives more flexibility like selling a license that works on Firefox + Chrome, and selling team based licenses. I wouldn't be surprised if Google killed Chrome store payments in the future as well - I pretty much never hear mentions or updates about it. I wouldn't want to lose all my subscribers if that happened.
- ggurgone 7y agoMakes perfectly sense. Thank you for the tips!