Ten weeks ago I launched Prompt Helix, my first Chrome extension. This week I submitted FocusForge, my second. Here's the honest state of things.
The numbers
Prompt Helix: 95 total installs, 3 signed up users, 1 weekly active user, £0 revenue.
FocusForge: Submitted to Chrome Store, pending review, not yet live.
What I got wrong
I launched Prompt Helix with a free tier that was too generous. OpenAI and Claude completely free with no caps meant there was literally no reason to upgrade. Fixed that in v1.0.2 with a 25 query daily limit, usage counter, and proper upgrade prompts. First real conversion trigger went live April 3rd.
FocusForge launched with proper freemium from day one because I learned that lesson already.
What surprised me
Building the second product was significantly faster than the first. Same Clerk auth, same Stripe setup, same BYOK architecture. The infrastructure was already there. I could focus on the product instead of the plumbing.
FocusForge has a feature I'm genuinely proud of is the Nuclear Option. Total site blocking for 1, 3, or 8 hours with zero escape route. No clicking through, no disabling the extension. Built it because every other focus tool I tried could be bypassed when willpower ran out.
If you're building a Chrome extension and want to swap notes I'm always up for it.
helixlabs.studio
Top comments (1)
From a quick look at 'Prompt Helix' I honestly don't think it is something I'd ever pay for. Very similar functionality is already available for free in Firefox, and I'd be surprised if Chrome didn't have similar.
TBH I've rarely seen ANY extensions that have a paid option, and the ones that I have seen honestly don't seem worth it. I think the expectation of most users is that browsers extensions are generally free tools to enhance your browser experience, or possibly to provide a bridge to another app you've already paid for. Trying to make money out of the extension itself is gonna be an uphill battle in most cases.