# Claude in Chrome Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-in-chrome/ 37 people recommended Claude in Chrome in Hacker News comments, 13 had mixed feelings and 39 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 12 months, in 29 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Criticized more than recommended: critics most often flag security risks and slowness; those who recommend it cite browsing tasks like searching sites, filling forms and QA testing, since it drives your own Chrome profile. Summary written from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Security risks and data exposure (4 comments in the sample): "How long until we get a "Critical vulnerability found in Claude's Chrome extension that enables attackers to control your browser remotely" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46344931)) "It grabbed my access tokens from cookies and curl into the app's private API for their UI." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46341007)) "they are using Debugger permission that exposes your device to vulnerabilities" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46340734)) - Slow and expensive for low-level control (3 comments in the sample): "Chrome MCP is much slower and by default pretty much unusable because Claude seems to prefer to read state from screenshots" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47551864)) "claude --chrome works, but as the OP mentions: they can do it 20x faster, by passing in higher-level commands." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46919352)) "I was also able to build a better browser agent than ‘claude —chrome" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46989608)) - Setup, login and connection failures (2 comments in the sample): "I'm getting nothing but "Unable to initialize the chat session. Please check your connection and try again." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46340705)) "authentication doesn't work and there's a slew of recent reviews on the Chrome extension mentioning it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46595164)) - Limited to the Chrome browser (1 comment in the sample): "obviously it's restricted to the Chrome browser" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47356654)) ## Why people recommend it - Automates repetitive web tasks (6 comments in the sample): "I’ve used Claude for Chrome to search for stays in Airbnb for example…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46593801)) "A common set is having Claude take some product photos and turn them into lifestyle ones using ChatGPT via Claude in Chrome." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49702729)) "using the Claude in chrome extension greatly expands the possibilities of tasks you can hand off" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50186428)) - Pairs with Claude Code and Cowork (5 comments in the sample): "then claude code can control the browser (and 'see' what's showing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47225868)) "I used Claude in chrome and Claude Code. It did everything for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47258397)) "What I really like for this is the Claude Code Chrome Extension." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47148483)) - Helps with QA and frontend work (3 comments in the sample): "Fixed a UI issue I had yesterday in a web app very effectively using claude in chrome." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47052194)) "I was really impressed with its ability to test usability in Claude for Chrome." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48512096)) "The last part helps a lot with frontend development." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46674981)) - Uses your existing browser profile (3 comments in the sample): "Claude Chrome requires some manual setup, and works better in cases requires your actual browser not a headless one." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46780084)) "The chrome extension is a little better because it only takes control of its own chrome tabs" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48666294)) "I also find it more useful that the Chrome MCP uses my current profile" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47546241)) ## Other browser extensions people recommend - [SponsorBlock](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sponsorblock/): 125 recommend, 5 mixed, 4 criticize - [Firefox Multi-Account Containers](https://hackerapproved.com/p/firefox-containers/): 54 recommend, 18 mixed, 11 criticize - [NoScript](https://hackerapproved.com/p/noscript/): 50 recommend, 9 mixed, 11 criticize - [Unhook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unhook/): 44 recommend, 2 mixed, 5 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Claude in Chrome", https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-in-chrome/ (37 recommend, 13 mixed, 39 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 3 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.