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NoScript

Hacker Approved

Ranked 3 of 70 browser extensions by recommenders

People recommend it for blocking JavaScript by domain, which cuts trackers, pop-ups and junk, with selective whitelisting. The common caveat is that it breaks many sites and needs frequent per-site allowing.

People recommend it for blocking JavaScript by domain, which cuts trackers, pop-ups and junk, with selective whitelisting. The common caveat is that it breaks many sites and needs frequent per-site allowing.

72 people gave an opinion

recommend it
61
criticize it
11
approval share
85%
Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes

Recommended in 12 of 13 months

  1. November 2025: recommended
  2. December 2025: recommended
  3. January 2026: recommended
  4. February 2026: recommended
  5. March 2026: recommended
  6. April 2026: recommended
  7. May 2026: recommended
  8. June 2026: recommended
  9. July 2026: recommended
  10. August 2026: recommended
  11. September 2026: recommended
  12. October 2026: recommended
  13. November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)

Owned for 10 years

Median of the 4 owners who said how long they have had it.

Each square is one year.

Why it carries the badge

  • 61 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
  • 5.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
  • Recommended in 12 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

  • Per-domain script whitelisting

    “I've found NoScript actually very usable, as long as you allow yourself to be fairly liberal in marking domains "trusted."”

    Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “My practical approach to surfing the web safely”

    “I've found NoScript actually very usable, as long as you allow yourself to be fairly liberal in marking domains”

    Comment from 7 Sep 2026 on Hacker News

    “Whitelisting per-domain and per-site what can run Javascript does more for my privacy than anything else”

    Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com”
  • Strong protection against web attacks

    “you can disable extensions and run noscript. that should take care of most attack vectors that people roll.”

    Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Why is this fingerprinting script creating bioweapons?”

    “we can achieve security through extensions like noscript or ublock origin or firefox containers”

    Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “We found a stable Firefox identifier linking all your private Tor identities”

    “you need to run NoScript to block all javascript if you want to be remotely secure on the web”

    Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Has Mythos just broken the deal that kept the internet safe?”
  • Pairs well with uBlock Origin

    “Give it just enough capability to run uBlock Origin and NoScript.”

    Comment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Firefox browser falls to AI. What do we do now?”

    “uBlock Origin and NoScript can block almost all these annoyances”

    Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Web Browsers have stopped blocking pop-ups”

    “run uBlock Origin and NoScript and you probably won't need it”

    Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “The 49MB Web Page”
  • Blocks trackers, pop-ups and nag screens

    “This cuts down on the volume of garbage sites I waste time on and shields me from novel trackers not on any block list.”

    Comment from 3 Sep 2026 in “The browser's main thread is expensive”

    “Run NoScript and cut out all the data broker bloat, allowing just a limited number of critical scripts to run.”

    Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “During Helene, I Just Wanted a Plain Text Website”

    “You really need NoScript and LocalCDN in the arsenal to pare back the invasive abuse of privacy.”

    Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “uBlock Origin Is Giving Up the Fight to Keep Ads Off Facebook”

What people warn about

Each mark is one comment

  • Breaks many sites and features

    “This is why I put up with NoScript, it's frustrating sometimes to determine what a site actually needs to function”

    Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “Half a Gigabyte of Ads”

    “blocking scripts actually breaks too much to be a good, general workaround against web pages being too heavy”

    Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “The 49MB Web Page”

    “I still block Javascript everywhere just so that things will actually work and won't crash my browser”

    Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Web Browsers have stopped blocking pop-ups”
  • Constant per-site allowing is tedious

    “I'd given up on that a while ago because I basically had to disable it everywhere”

    Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “TUI Studio – visual terminal UI design tool”

    “I don't want to have to allow the minimum for each site”

    Comment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?”

    “that's a big pain for an average person”

    Comment from 2 Jul 2026 in “A new Android malware from Google”
  • Too advanced for average users

    “NoScript and uMatrix were a great help - for very advanced users.”

    Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO”

    “that's a big pain for an average person”

    Comment from 2 Jul 2026 in “A new Android malware from Google”

Other browser extensions people recommend

The four most recommended other browser extensions, with 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.

NoScript compared with 4 alternatives
ProductRecommendCriticizeApprovalMonthsOwnedBadge
SponsorBlock137497%13—Approved
Firefox Multi-Account Containers761385%107.5 yrs3 ownersApproved
NoScriptThis page611185%1210 yrs4 ownersApproved
Claude in Chrome534256%9——
Unhook48591%11—Approved
See all 70 browser extensions, ranked

What people said

40 of the 97 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.

“you can disable extensions and run noscript. that should take care of most attack vectors that people roll.”

RecommendsComment from 28 Oct 2026 in “Why is this fingerprinting script creating bioweapons?”

“I've found NoScript actually very usable, as long as you allow yourself to be fairly liberal in marking domains”

RecommendsComment from 7 Sep 2026 on Hacker News

“I've found NoScript actually very usable, as long as you allow yourself to be fairly liberal in marking domains "trusted."”

RecommendsComment from 4 Sep 2026 in “My practical approach to surfing the web safely”

“This cuts down on the volume of garbage sites I waste time on and shields me from novel trackers not on any block list.”

RecommendsComment from 3 Sep 2026 in “The browser's main thread is expensive”

“NoScript works well enough just wholesale blocking js”

RecommendsComment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Hang on to Your Firefox”

“NoScript and uMatrix were a great help - for very advanced users.”

MixedComment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO”

“The NoScript extension was at the forefront, providing a lot of functionality way beyond just blocking JavaScript per domain.”

RecommendsComment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Google Has Removed MV2 Extensions from the Chrome Web Store, Including UBO”

“Whitelisting per-domain and per-site what can run Javascript does more for my privacy than anything else”

RecommendsComment from 25 Aug 2026 in “iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com”

“always a good idea to use NoScript too for more fine grained control”

RecommendsComment from 21 Aug 2026 in “AliExpress runs silent WebAudio fingerprinting that breaks Bluetooth multipoint”

“Literally nothing works through NoScript any more since all the bootcamps started teaching React.”

CriticizesComment from 13 Aug 2026 in “uBlock Origin Is Giving Up the Fight to Keep Ads Off Facebook”

“You really need NoScript and LocalCDN in the arsenal to pare back the invasive abuse of privacy.”

RecommendsComment from 12 Aug 2026 in “uBlock Origin Is Giving Up the Fight to Keep Ads Off Facebook”

“NoScript, no problem. Of course then you have to deal with NoScript, but it has so many other uses you'll be sorting your whitelist anyways.”

RecommendsComment from 3 Aug 2026 in “How Google helped destroy adoption of RSS feeds (2023)”

“allows me to toggle off javascript and vanquish most pop ups and nag screens”

RecommendsComment from 23 Jul 2026 in “So Reddit has decided that plain HTML is unsafe”

“that's a big pain for an average person”

MixedComment from 2 Jul 2026 in “A new Android malware from Google”

“NoScript allows most of the modern web to work with selective whitelisting.”

RecommendsComment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Instagram is incorporating users' photos in ads for Mera Glasses”

“pretty much nothing loaded since like 99.9% of the web uses js for basic functionality.”

CriticizesComment from 20 Jun 2026 in “From PGP to Mythos: a brief history of export controls that didn't stop anyone”

“you should at least be using a JavaScript blocker/whitelister such as NoScript”

RecommendsComment from 30 May 2026 in “Print with dozens of colors: Our new open-source ColorMix for PrusaSlicer”

“I find NoScript's UI more convenient for script toggling”

RecommendsComment from 8 May 2026 in “A web page that shows you everything the browser told it without asking”

“not after I began using pihole, NoScript, and UBlock Origin”

RecommendsComment from 2 May 2026 in “New US phone network for Christians to block porn and gender-related content”

“Adding an extension that can access all your browsing data doesn't seem very secure either.”

MixedComment from 29 Apr 2026 in “Phone is about to stop being yours”

“Use uBlock and block javascript by default with NoScript.”

RecommendsComment from 23 Apr 2026 in “The Onion to Take over InfoWars”

“we can achieve security through extensions like noscript or ublock origin or firefox containers”

RecommendsComment from 22 Apr 2026 in “We found a stable Firefox identifier linking all your private Tor identities”

“Noscript breaks 99% of websites these days, entirely.”

CriticizesComment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Has Mythos just broken the deal that kept the internet safe?”

“you need to run NoScript to block all javascript if you want to be remotely secure on the web”

RecommendsComment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Has Mythos just broken the deal that kept the internet safe?”

“Keeping it disabled, at least by default, is the best thing you can do to protect yourself.”

RecommendsComment from 2 Apr 2026 in “LinkedIn Is Illegally Searching Your Computer”

“Browsing and not using these tools nowadays is volunteering for a bad time, IMO.”

RecommendsComment from 23 Mar 2026 in “PC Gamer Recommends RSS Readers in a 37MB Article That Just Keeps Downloading”

“This is why I put up with NoScript, it's frustrating sometimes to determine what a site actually needs to function”

RecommendsComment from 22 Mar 2026 in “Half a Gigabyte of Ads”

“blocking scripts actually breaks too much to be a good, general workaround against web pages being too heavy”

MixedComment from 16 Mar 2026 in “The 49MB Web Page”

“run uBlock Origin and NoScript and you probably won't need it”

RecommendsComment from 16 Mar 2026 in “The 49MB Web Page”

“I'd given up on that a while ago because I basically had to disable it everywhere”

CriticizesComment from 14 Mar 2026 in “TUI Studio – visual terminal UI design tool”

“I tried NoScript, but it breaks way too many sites.”

CriticizesComment from 4 Mar 2026 in “The Internet's Top Tech Publications Lost 58% of Their Google Traffic Since 2024”

“Run NoScript and cut out all the data broker bloat, allowing just a limited number of critical scripts to run.”

RecommendsComment from 5 Jan 2026 in “During Helene, I Just Wanted a Plain Text Website”

“I still block Javascript everywhere just so that things will actually work and won't crash my browser”

RecommendsComment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Web Browsers have stopped blocking pop-ups”

“uBlock Origin and NoScript can block almost all these annoyances”

RecommendsComment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Web Browsers have stopped blocking pop-ups”

“NoScript mostly solves this, except for sites that open up with the pop-ups already visible and require JavaScript to be enabled”

MixedComment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Web Browsers have stopped blocking pop-ups”

“Give it just enough capability to run uBlock Origin and NoScript.”

RecommendsComment from 29 Dec 2025 in “Firefox browser falls to AI. What do we do now?”

“especially uBlock Origin (UBO), Ghostery, No script, etc.”

MixedComment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?”

“I don't want to have to allow the minimum for each site”

CriticizesComment from 17 Dec 2025 in “Is Mozilla trying hard to kill itself?”

“keeps JS off by default and allows me to selectively enable scripts by domain”

RecommendsComment from 5 Dec 2025 in “Trick users and bypass warnings – Modern SVG Clickjacking attacks”

“merely uBlock use renders me unique, whereas one in 5742.77 had the same fingerprint as me when using NoScript”

RecommendsComment from 11 Nov 2025 in “Firefox expands fingerprint protections”

Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.