4 ms·

What are the paths to monetize a browser extension?

I've seen discussion on the various bad actors seeking to acquire extensions for access to their user base. My question is, what are the other paths to monetization? How much reliable income can one earn on an extension with a few thousand users?

cpach 3y ago
People pay for applications and subscriptions, but I’ve never heard of anyone paying for a browser extension. I think you need a really good USP for people to pay. Or tie it to a subscription? Or try donations. But don’t expect too much from donations.
warrenm 3y ago
On an extension? I would wager ... between "nothing" and "not much" On the service the extension ties to? Depends on how much you can reasonably charge for what the service does - and if you are doing something that is already being done (for free/cheap), how are you different/better than the competition?
musicale 3y ago
Even if you're baked into the browser, it's probably going to be hard to make any money at all. I doubt Pocket did that well even being baked into the browser and constantly pushed by Mozilla. Mozilla VPN might do a bit better since it seems to provide a somewhat useful service that might be more trustworthy than some alternatives. Brave has some kind of thing that's baked into the browser, and I ignore or disable it whenever possible. The only browser extensions I've ever paid for were Safari extensions via Apple's App Store, usually just for technical curiosity reasons since the free alternatives tend to be just as good. I doubt they make much money either, but at least there is a way to buy them and an audience of people who sometimes pay for things. So probably Safari or Chrome app stores are your best bet.
idontwantthis 3y ago
Get a lot of users then sell out when you get an offer from a malware distributor.
gabrielsroka 3y ago
Previous posts on HN including https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32083220 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32083220
mattl 3y ago
If the extension is useful to the users of the site, maybe the site owners will want to promote it and help fund development?
- cpach 3y ago
  Interesting suggestion, but I doubt it’s viable. If there’s something the site owner is interested in fixing, they can probably fix it themselves on their site. And they have an incentive to do so: It’s probably very few of their users that could be bothered to install an extension.

cpach 3y ago

People pay for applications and subscriptions, but I’ve never heard of anyone paying for a browser extension. I think you need a really good USP for people to pay. Or tie it to a subscription? Or try donations. But don’t expect too much from donations.

warrenm 3y ago

On an extension? I would wager ... between "nothing" and "not much" On the service the extension ties to? Depends on how much you can reasonably charge for what the service does - and if you are doing something that is already being done (for free/cheap), how are you different/better than the competition?

musicale 3y ago

Even if you're baked into the browser, it's probably going to be hard to make any money at all. I doubt Pocket did that well even being baked into the browser and constantly pushed by Mozilla. Mozilla VPN might do a bit better since it seems to provide a somewhat useful service that might be more trustworthy than some alternatives. Brave has some kind of thing that's baked into the browser, and I ignore or disable it whenever possible. The only browser extensions I've ever paid for were Safari extensions via Apple's App Store, usually just for technical curiosity reasons since the free alternatives tend to be just as good. I doubt they make much money either, but at least there is a way to buy them and an audience of people who sometimes pay for things. So probably Safari or Chrome app stores are your best bet.

idontwantthis 3y ago

Get a lot of users then sell out when you get an offer from a malware distributor.

gabrielsroka 3y ago

Previous posts on HN including https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32083220 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32083220

mattl 3y ago

If the extension is useful to the users of the site, maybe the site owners will want to promote it and help fund development?

cpach 3y ago
Interesting suggestion, but I doubt it’s viable. If there’s something the site owner is interested in fixing, they can probably fix it themselves on their site. And they have an incentive to do so: It’s probably very few of their users that could be bothered to install an extension.