Though Microsoft Edge has a leg up on Internet Explorer, it’s still playing catch-up with other browsers.
In 2016,Edge got a major update to support online window extensions.
A year later, you might be surprised to learn that the extension library holds just 40 add-ons.
Let’s take a survey ofevery Edge extensionto find what’s great and what’s lacking.
ATiescore means that the extensions are so similar that there’s no clear winner.
Ghostery isn’t an ad-blocker per se, but does remove some.
It lets you see how sites are tracking you and add exceptions for trusted sites.
However, the Edge extension isn’t up to par with other versions.
Users complain of bugs and an outdated user interface compared to the Chrome version.
Winner:Chrome, due to its smoother interface and performance.
It offersall the features you’d expect in a password manager, but comes with a huge caveat.
The free version only allows you to store 15 passwords.
You’ll have to pay $20/year to store all your logins.
Frankly, there’s nothing special about True Key that’s worth the cost.
LastPass orone of its many alternativeswill do the same job and store all your passwords for free.
It’s integrated with business applications like Salesforce and GoToMeeting.
For home users, there’s no reason to install this because it requires a company account.
Notably,OneLogin was recently the victim of a huge security breach.
RoboForm for Microsoft Edge
Chrome Equivalent:RoboForm Password Manager
RoboForm isanother password manager.
This one has been around for a while, but its Edge extension is lackluster.
Winner:Chrome, as Edge’s version isn’t as smooth.
Keeper for Microsoft Edge
Chrome Equivalent:Keeper Password Manager & Digital Vault
Guess what this is?
If you said a password manager, you’re right.
And like the others, Keeper isn’t free.
It offers a free trial, then costs $30/year for a single-user account.
Norton Identity Safe feature is still offered with our Norton Security products.
We’ve discussed before thatyou don’t need a paid antivirus, much less Norton’s bloated mess.
So we recommend you skip this and use another password manager.
This extension is for those who serve as moderators for one of the site’s many subreddits.
Moderators are in charge of removing posts that violate the rules and monitoring the sub’s health.
If you’re a mod, this suite of tools helps you perform your job more easily.
Those who just browse Reddit won’t need this, though.
Many websites also have a Pinterest social button you might use too.
But if you’re a Pinterest fanatic, this is worth keeping around.
This extension lets you customize the service to your liking.
Anyone who uses YouTube often should play around with this to remove some of its annoyances.
Some of its content is only available in the USA.
The extension will automatically find coupon codes on thousands of store websites for you.
In addition to this, it offers you cash back when you shop at participating stores.
After some time with Ebates, you’ll be earning money back from purchases you’d have made anyway!
It remembers what products you’ve looked for and allows you to compare prices across hundreds of stores.
you’re free to save items to boards for later or to create collections.
If youshop online regularly, this is a huge help.
Winner:Edge, as the Chrome version is slightly behind in development.
The service is UK-centric now, so those in other territories may not have the same chances for earning.
Give as you Live Donation Reminder
Chrome Equivalent:None.
Give as you Live is a UK-centric service that lets youdonate to charity when shopping online.
This extension simply reminds you of donation opportunities and lets you access participating stores quickly.
Winner:Edge, as Chrome doesn’t have an extension for this service.
Winner:Chrome, because Edge’s isn’t actually an extension.
Save to Pocket
Chrome Equivalent:Save to Pocket
Pocket isthe leading read-it-later service.
Like Pinterest, you’re free to also use the lighterPocket bookmarklettoaccomplish the same task.
This extension enables you to do so by removing junk elements from pages.
It cando the same for saving PDFs, too.
Translator for Microsoft Edge
Chrome Equivalent:ImTranslator; website translation functionality is also built into Chrome.
As you might guess, this extensiontranslates websites in foreign languagesto your native tongue.
It supports over 50 languages and can translate entire pages or just snippets of text.
If you ever work with other languages in your web app, you should definitely keep this one around.
Winner:Chrome, as it has the functionality built-in and offers a more powerful extension.
This extension does just that.
It supports YouTube, Vimeo, and plenty of other video sites.
Of course, basic zooming functionality is already enabled in Edge.
Give this a try if you zoom webpages regularly.
Children can listen to documents and webpages read aloud with text-to-speech, hear translations, and highlight text.
It works with Word and OneNote Online, as well as websites.
The Edge version is currently in beta and is free during that time.
Read&Writecharges for most of its featuresin other browsers after a 30-day free trial.
Edge’s version is in beta and has limited functionality.
This extension adds some new gestures for working with tabs, navigating webpages, and more.
Winner:Chrome, as its extension offers more gestures.
Tampermonkey
Chrome Equivalent:Tampermonkey
Tampermonkey is a user script manager.
It’s intendedfor power users, as it allows you to change the way that websites behave.
If you don’t know what user scripts are, you don’t need to bother with this one.
This extension makes it a bit easier to get to your Office documents from anywhere.
hit the button, and you could jump right to an Office Online app and access your recent files.
It includes single sign-on to web apps and file sharing.
On many of these, it’s tough to navigate and find exactly what page you’re looking for.
This extension adds an easy-to-follow breadcrumb trail and other navigation tools that help you spend less time wandering around.
Whenever you run it on a website, it will tell you what technologies the website is built with.
Any frameworks, web servers, and other libraries display plainly for you to see.
The Chrome extension only checks for compatibility issues with certain browsers, not the site itself.
BrowserStack
Chrome Equivalent:BrowserStack
Developers creating websites have to go through a lot of testing.
Just because a website looks okay in Chrome doesn’t mean it won’t have problems in Firefox.
Plus, they must test mobile browsers and even ancient browsers like Internet Explorer 8 sometimes.
BrowserStack makes this simple by letting developers check their site in dozens of real browsers without using virtual machines.
It’s a paid service designed for business use, so this extension is useless without a subscription.
Using it, you might test changes to CSS in real-time.
This extension takes raw JSON input and formats it into a developer-friendly form.
If you’re developing a website, this is super handy.
For home users, you won’t find much utility here.
This one offers more features than AdBlock and claims to carry a lighter footprint.
Like AdBlock, remember thatblocking ads may affect youeven if you don’t realize it.
This version for Edgeis in betaat the moment, so the developers caution that it has limitations and bugs.
Thus, if you must use an ad-blocker, this isn’t your best choice.
Winner:Chrome, since the Edge version is still in development.
uBlock Origin
Chrome Equivalent:uBlock Origin
Add another ad-blocker to Edge’s list.
uBlock Origin prides itself on blocking ads while not bogging down your surfing app with the extra processing loads.
We’ve said our piece about the dangers of blocking ads, so we won’t be repetitive here.
At least you have a wide choice if you want to block ads in Edge.
For the most part, each Edge extension has a copy available on Chrome from the same developer.
Which Edge Extensions Are You Using?
Extensions don’t make or break a surfing app, but they’re pretty important.
For many people, Edge’s mediocre extension support means thatthey only use it for certain occasions.
Password managers, savings rebates, and enhancements for Reddit and YouTube are all great.
Hopefully, Microsoft amps it up and brings dozens more extensions to Edge before long.
