Firefox Developer Tools
Browser developer tools in Developer tools
People recommend Firefox's built-in developer tools for their polished design and strong debugging features, often preferring them over Chrome's. Some find them lacking in certain areas and one reports a flickering panel.
People recommend Firefox's built-in developer tools for their polished design and strong debugging features, often preferring them over Chrome's. Some find them lacking in certain areas and one reports a flickering panel.
12 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Preferred over Chrome's tools
“in my opinion their tooling is actually superior to Chrome”
Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “Hang on to Your Firefox” “I vastly prefer Firefox's to Chrome's.”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “New Safari developer tools provide insight into CSS Grid Lanes” “Firefox' dev tools still hold the crown for me.”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “New Safari developer tools provide insight into CSS Grid Lanes” Excellent tooling overall
“Definitely look into both chrome or firefox, their tooling is great.”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “AI is a business model stress test” “far and away the best of the major browsers”
Comment from 14 Jan 2026 in “Owners, not renters: Mozilla's open source AI strategy”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Missing OPFS browser functionality
“Firefox developer tools doesn't even have OPFS browser functionality.”
Comment from 1 Jun 2026 in “Websites have a new way to spy on visitors: analyzing their SSD activity” Panel flickers on repaint
“visible, whole-panel flicker when the UI repaints itself every time the cursor blinks”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Godot 4.6 Release: It's all about your flow”
What people recommend instead
The same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrome DevTools | 20 | 12 | 63% | 10 | — | — |
| Firefox Developer ToolsThis page | 9 | 3 | 75% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
11 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“in my opinion their tooling is actually superior to Chrome”
“I find that the Firefox one has a better design and looks more polished”
“Firefox developer tools doesn't even have OPFS browser functionality.”
“In FF, the event tag on the element is clickable and gives you the name and the line number in the JS file.”
“visible, whole-panel flicker when the UI repaints itself every time the cursor blinks”
“Browser dev tools help devs build an accurate mental model of what their software is doing.”
“Firefox' dev tools still hold the crown for me.”
“I vastly prefer Firefox's to Chrome's.”
“far and away the best of the major browsers”
“Definitely look into both chrome or firefox, their tooling is great.”
“I quickly close them again and open chrome instead.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.