20 Free VS Code Extensions You've Never Heard Of

FlowKit — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 19:01:05 +0000

Most VS Code extension lists recommend the same 10 tools. Here are 20 you probably haven't seen - all free, all under 5KB, all zero tracking.

Code Quality

1. Todo Highlights

Color-code TODO, FIXME, NOTE, and HACK comments with distinct colors.

2. Error Lens Lite

Shows errors and warnings inline at the end of each line. No config needed.

3. Bracket Scope Labels

See what each closing } belongs to at a glance.

Debugging

4. Console Ninja

Insert console.log with Cmd+Shift+L. Remove all console.logs with Cmd+Shift+K.

5. Regex Tester

Type a regex pattern, see all matches highlighted in your file.

6. Log Highlighter

Color-codes ERROR (red), WARN (orange), INFO (blue) in .log files.

Git & Editing

7. Git Blame Inline

Lightweight blame annotations on every line.

8. Auto Rename Tag

Edit opening HTML tag -> closing tag updates automatically.

9. JSON Sorter

Sort JSON keys alphabetically with one command.

10. CSS Variable Preview

See var(--color-primary) resolved as an actual color swatch.

Visual & Productivity

11-20

Color Preview, Indent Rainbow, Copy Filename, File Size, Line Count, Env Switcher, Import Size, Lorem Generator, Snippet Vault, Markdown Preview Plus.

Download All 20

Every extension is free as a .vsix download:

👉 GitHub Releases

Install: Cmd+Shift+P -> Install from VSIX -> select file.

Also check out 66 free browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera.

I Built 66 Free Chrome Extensions for Developers - Here's What I Learned

FlowKit — Sat, 21 Mar 2026 17:11:06 +0000

After months of building developer tools, I've released 66 free browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Opera. Every single one is open source, under 50KB, and collects zero user data.

Why I Built These

I kept running into the same problems:

Extensions tracking my browsing history
Simple tools hidden behind $5/month subscriptions
Extensions using 200MB of RAM for basic features

So I decided to build my own. All of them.

The Collection

🔧 Debugging

JSON Formatter - auto-format API responses with syntax highlighting
Regex Tester - test patterns with live match highlighting
HTTP Headers - inspect request/response headers
Console Logger - smart console.log management

🎨 Design

Color Picker Eyedropper - pick any color from any webpage
CSS Gradient Generator - visual gradient builder with CSS output
Font Identifier - identify any font on a page
Page Ruler - measure pixel dimensions

⚡ Productivity

Tab Suspender - saves 80% RAM by suspending inactive tabs
Dark Mode Everywhere - dark mode on ALL websites
Screenshot Capture - full-page screenshots, no account needed
Quick Notepad - persistent notes in new tabs

🛡️ Privacy & Security

Cookie Cleaner - one-click cookie management
Privacy Scanner - check what a site tracks
Meta Tag Viewer - inspect page metadata

The Numbers

66 extensions across 4 browsers
< 50KB each (most competitors are 2-5MB)
Zero tracking - no analytics, no user data
Open source - MIT licensed

What's Next

I'm also building:

15 VS Code extensions (available on GitHub)
Userscripts for popular sites (available on Greasy Fork)
Digital templates for developers

Check It Out

🌐 Browse all 66 extensions

I'd love feedback - what developer tools are you missing? What would you build if you had the time?

DEV Community: FlowKit