# uMatrix

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/umatrix/

22 people recommended uMatrix in Hacker News comments, 6 had mixed feelings and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 12 months, in 19 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Lets you control which scripts, frames and third-party connections load on each site through a granular matrix. Caveat: it is no longer updated and breaks many sites by default.

Summary written by Claude from 44 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Fine-grained control over third-party requests (5 comments in the sample): "it's the only tool I've ever found that lets me feel in control of what programs my browser is executing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46304533)) "I just find the UI at once both more granular and easier to grok than uB0's Advanced mode" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48180398)) "fine grained adblockers such as uMatrix/uBlockOrigin" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46343739))
- Still works reliably for many users (5 comments in the sample): "It hasn't received updates in a good long while, but seems to work fine, for me anyway." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48068027)) "It mostly still just works. Sometimes even with everything enabled, a site won't work." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48155711)) "I run uMatrix on every computer I have and it is awesome." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46310688))
- Pairs well with uBlock Origin (4 comments in the sample): "things like uBlock Origin + uMatrix + a bunch of other extensions that I know keep me safer" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47088688)) "Using ublock and umatrix both on firefox with full tracking protection enabled." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47017889)) "I think uMatrix is the better extension. I use it in tandem with uBO." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46317697))
- Clearer UI than alternatives (3 comments in the sample): "but it still works and it's UI is better then the UI of NoScript" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46304220)) "Firefox has uMatrix which is better than anything Brave uses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46289085)) "I really liked the user interface of uMatrix." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47949917))

## What people warn about

- Breaks sites until whitelisted (3 comments in the sample): "most sites work right away. Others require fiddling with the matrix of media, script, xhr, frames and the third parties serving them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45891609)) "uMatrix is effective but breaks so many sites" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47870253)) "uMatrix is very hard on sites by default. When something is glitchy, I assume it's because uMatrix blocked random third-party code." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48161914))
- Silently blocks things without notice (3 comments in the sample): "I have had frequent enough issues with it silently blocking some things with no ui exposure of those blocks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48159361)) "you later find out uMatrix was still messing with some stuff, even if you whitelist all resources." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48232143)) "Some things silently fail." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48307235))
- Unmaintained, may stop working (2 comments in the sample): "I used to use umatrix, preferred it to ublock origin advanced mode. However, isn't umatrix unsupported?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48067844)) "It probably won't work in new Chrome versions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46321490))

## 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, "uMatrix", https://hackerapproved.com/p/umatrix/ (22 recommend, 6 mixed, 6 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.