The browser extension market grew in Q1 2026. However, the key point is not just that Chrome remained the leader. An analysis based on daily parsing of public data from all three major extension stores shows Firefox had the fastest growth among major stores. Chrome rebounded after a decline in late 2025, reaching a new high, while all three ecosystems continued to have many extensions with minimal usage.
178,299 active extensions were listed in the Chrome Web Store in March 2026, compared to 83,465 on Firefox Add-ons and 28,741 on Microsoft Edge Add-ons.
Firefox's extension ecosystem grew by 74.2% year over year from March 2025 to March 2026, the fastest rate among the three major stores.
70.4% of Chrome extensions, 56.8% of Edge add-ons, and 89.4% of Firefox add-ons have 100 users or fewer, based on the closest available adoption metric for each store.
Market overview
The extension market in Q1 2026 was still dominated by Chrome with a substantial lead. There were 178,299 Chrome extensions at the end of March, more than double Firefox's 83,465 and more than six times Edge's 28,741.
This scale is significant because Chrome also reaches the largest browser audience. StatCounter's worldwide browser usage data for March 2026 shows Chrome at 66.71% market share, while Edge holds 5.79% and Firefox has 2.33% (StatCounter). Chrome remains the main target for distribution, but store size and browser share are not aligned.
| Store | Active extensions, Mar 2026 | Developers, Mar 2026 | YoY growth vs Mar 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 178,299 | 121,590 | 22.70% |
| Firefox | 83,465 | 69,475 | 74.16% |
| Edge | 28,741 | 16,510 | 21.55% |
Firefox is the standout in this scenario. Its year-over-year growth outpaced both Chrome and Edge by more than three times, as the table above shows. For developers and reporters, this shifts the narrative: the extension landscape in 2026 involves more than just Chrome's dominance; Firefox is growing significantly faster, even from a smaller base.
One possible explanation is differing policies. Mozilla announced in February 2025 that Firefox would continue supporting both Manifest V2 and Manifest V3, including the ability to use blockingWebRequest, while some other browsers began phasing out MV2. While this doesn't establish a direct cause and effect, it helps to explain Firefox's strong growth in listings.
Q1 2026 was a rebound quarter, especially for Chrome
Q1 2026 saw an increase in listings across all three major stores, but Chrome's recovery stood out. Chrome added 38,015 new extensions and removed 7,890 in Q1, resulting in a net growth of 30,125. Firefox had a net gain of 9,821 listings, while Edge added 2,391.
Those numbers become more meaningful when compared to late 2025. In Q4 2025, Chrome experienced a net loss of 27,249 listings due to a significant deletion wave, while Edge declined by 164. In contrast, Firefox continued to grow with a net gain of 8,040.
| Store | Q1 2026 gross new | Q1 2026 deleted | Q1 2026 net new | Q4 2025 net new |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 38,015 | 7,890 | 30,125 | -27,249 |
| Firefox | 12,392 | 2,571 | 9,821 | 8,040 |
| Edge | 2,852 | 461 | 2,391 | -164 |
Q1 2026 felt more like a reset and recovery than a simple continuation. Chrome ended the quarter with an all-time high after the prior contraction. Firefox maintained its upward momentum into 2026. Edge remained positive, but on a smaller scale.
Chrome's late-2025 purge was real, and it changed the baseline for 2026
The most noticeable change in the market was Chrome's cleanup in October 2025. A total of 47,288 extensions were removed that month alone. No other monthly deletion counts during this period came close.
This is important because simple year-end comparisons can misinterpret the situation. Chrome's total was 175,423 in September 2025, dropped to 134,888 at the end of October, then grew to 140,828 in November and 178,299 by March 2026. Edge also experienced a smaller purge in December 2025 when 2,083 add-ons were deleted. Firefox did not face a similar disruption and showed steady growth every month.
| Month | Chrome total | Chrome deleted | Edge total | Edge deleted | Firefox total | Firefox deleted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 175,423 | 1,302 | 26,514 | 57 | 65,604 | 258 |
| Oct 2025 | 134,888 | 47,288 | 27,038 | 92 | 68,316 | 303 |
| Nov 2025 | 140,828 | 1,354 | 27,561 | 102 | 70,616 | 233 |
| Dec 2025 | 148,174 | 1,515 | 26,350 | 2,083 | 73,644 | 312 |
| Jan 2026 | 155,673 | 3,066 | 26,937 | 252 | 76,350 | 1,114 |
| Feb 2026 | 165,405 | 1,538 | 27,760 | 108 | 78,782 | 667 |
| Mar 2026 | 178,299 | 3,286 | 28,741 | 101 | 83,465 | 790 |
This matters because if a store can delete tens of thousands of listings in a single month, raw numbers tell only part of the story. Policy enforcement, spam removal, and compliance efforts can shift visibility and competition much more rapidly than overall counts suggest. Developers should pay attention.
The Manifest V2 shutdown likely contributed to this wave. Google completely disabled MV2 on July 24, 2025, and Microsoft also pushed migration to MV3 with stricter limits on remotely hosted code. Combined with Mozilla's continued MV2 support mentioned earlier, this helps explain both the purge and Firefox's growth.
The market is huge, but demand is still concentrated in a small minority of extensions
Commercially, the most striking pattern is how few users the average extension receives. The median is 18 users for Chrome extensions, 62 active installs for Edge add-ons, and one average daily user for Firefox add-ons. These metrics differ by store, so they can't be directly compared, but they point to the same conclusion: most listings have minimal usage.
The distribution makes this even clearer. Based on each store's closest available user metrics, 70.4% of Chrome listings, 56.8% of Edge listings, and 89.4% of Firefox listings have 100 users or fewer.
Chrome uses usersCount, Edge uses activeInstallCount, and Firefox uses averageDailyUsers, as tracked across store listings.
| Adoption bucket | Chrome | Edge | Firefox |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 14.10% | 6.54% | 34.38% |
| 1-10 | 28.15% | 19.80% | 40.62% |
| 11-100 | 28.17% | 30.45% | 14.41% |
| 101-1,000 | 20.66% | 25.77% | 7.43% |
| 1,001-10,000 | 6.29% | 11.79% | 2.48% |
| 10,000+ | 2.63% | 5.65% | 0.69% |
Growth in the store does not guarantee easier discovery. More listings can lead to increased competition among products with low traction. While there is a real opportunity, it is limited. A store that grows rapidly can still be tough to navigate if ranking, user retention, or promotional advantages cluster around the top few percent. It's akin to opening a cafe in a city where everyone else also had a similar "small but curated" idea.
Category mix varies enough across stores to change launch strategy
The three stores differ not only in size but also in what gets developed.
On Chrome, categories focused on productivity lead the way: 65,135 listings in Tools, 32,175 in Workflow & Planning, and 17,551 in Developer tools. On Edge, the largest category is also Productivity, with 12,609 listings. Firefox has a less structured category system, with Other leading at 22,690, followed by Appearance at 14,801 and Search Tools at 12,234.
Developers should not view "browser extensions" as a single market. Chrome and Edge lean more towards work and utility use cases, while Firefox has a different category landscape shaped partly by looser classification. Firefox also emphasizes privacy and security more prominently among top categories, featuring 8,627 listings in Privacy & Security.
| Store | Top categories by listing count |
|---|---|
| Chrome | Tools (65,135), Workflow & Planning (32,175), Developer tools (17,551) |
| Edge | Productivity (12,609), Entertainment (4,321), Photos (3,051) |
| Firefox | Other (22,690), Appearance (14,801), Search Tools (12,234) |
No single store is superior overall. Category fit matters more than careless cross-posting. A workflow or utility extension may find a stronger competitive environment on Chrome and Edge, while Firefox might offer different opportunities in privacy, interface customization, and search-related tools.
Feedback coverage is deeper on Chrome, but rated extensions score well across all stores
Feedback coverage varies significantly. Across stores, 49.8% of Chrome listings have at least one rating, compared to 44.5% on Edge and 31.0% on Firefox. Review coverage stands at 43.0% for Chrome, 29.7% for Edge, and 31.0% for Firefox. (Firefox's rating and review numbers match because AMO requires a text review to submit a star rating, unlike Chrome and Edge where star-only ratings are possible.)
At first glance, the average ratings across stores seem low: 2.27 on Chrome, 1.90 on Edge, and 1.29 on Firefox. However, these figures include unrated listings counted as zero. Among extensions that do receive ratings, average scores are high for all three stores: 4.56 on Chrome, 4.27 on Edge, and 4.15 on Firefox.
| Metric | Chrome | Edge | Firefox |
|---|---|---|---|
| With at least 1 rating | 49.8% | 44.5% | 31.0% |
| With at least 1 review | 43.0% | 29.7% | 31.0% |
| Average rating, all listings | 2.27 | 1.90 | 1.29 |
| Average rating, rated listings only | 4.56 | 4.27 | 4.15 |
The good news for developers is that low overall averages do not indicate users dislike extensions. They reflect the fact that many listings never receive feedback. Extensions that do get reviews are generally well received. Product teams should focus on engaging users early and encouraging reviews, rather than fixating on broad average ratings.
Maintenance is healthier on Chrome than on Edge or Firefox, but freshness is still limited
A growing store remains healthy only if its listings are kept up to date. In this aspect, Chrome currently leads. As of March 31, 2026, 30.80% of active Chrome extensions were updated within the last 90 days, compared to 18.23% on Edge and 17.92% on Firefox.
Looking at a longer timeframe, 62.58% of Chrome listings were updated within the last 365 days, while Edge and Firefox had 38.65% and 48.20%, respectively. The average update interval reflects this trend: 103 days for Chrome, 127 for Edge, and 111 for Firefox.
| Store | Updated in last 90 days | Updated in last 365 days | Average update interval |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome | 30.80% | 62.58% | 103 days |
| Firefox | 17.92% | 48.20% | 111 days |
| Edge | 18.23% | 38.65% | 127 days |
This indicates that Chrome's larger ecosystem is not only bigger but also more actively maintained. Firefox's rapid growth has not yet resulted in a similar freshness profile, while Edge appears smaller and slower. This situation affects trust for users and competition for developers. A store filled with older, poorly maintained listings may allow better-supported products to shine.
Security context is also essential. A peer-reviewed ACM study identified 1,349 extensions vulnerable to inter-extension attacks that could lead to XSS issues, along with a cluster of 4,410 "New Tab" extensions involved in stealing traffic. Reuters reported a 2020 spyware campaign that impacted 32 million Chrome extension downloads before Google removed over 70 harmful add-ons. Although these figures are not from Q1 2026, they help clarify why store cleanup and policy enforcement are vital to the market's structure.
What Q1 2026 says about the extension industry
The extension industry in Q1 2026 is larger, cleaner, and more uneven than typical browser statistics imply. Chrome remains the center of gravity in terms of both browser share and store size. Firefox is the standout growth story. Edge plays a role, but it continues to be a much smaller ecosystem.
The pattern is structural. Store growth has not eliminated the long tail. Most extensions still have minimal adoption, many do not receive ratings, and only a small percentage are regularly maintained. So yes, the market is active, but it is not straightforward.
For tech journalists, the best way to sum it up is that the extension market is expanding, but success is becoming more concentrated. For product managers, the takeaway is to select stores based on category fit and maintenance advantage, not just audience size. For developers, the data suggests that both statements can be true: browser extensions still represent a significant platform opportunity, but most listings will likely not achieve success.
A final note on enterprise relevance: research shows that extensions are crucial in workplace browsing. Help Net Security reported, citing LayerX's 2025 enterprise report, that 99% of enterprise users had at least one extension installed, with 53% having more than 10. This context highlights why distribution, management, and store trust are significant issues in 2026.
I've been parsing public data from all three major extension stores daily and built exstats.com to track extension growth, rankings, and competitor trends. This post is based on that dataset.
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