# WebUSB Extension for Firefox

6 Hacker News commenters recommended WebUSB Extension for Firefox and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 1 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Adds WebUSB to Firefox so web apps can reach USB devices, safer for many than installing random executables. Critics fear the permission prompt would be ignored if it went mainstream.

## Why people recommend it

- Safer than installing random executables (2 comments): "For me, this is a better security posture than installing random win32 apps." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47839253)) "it's genuinely better than downloading random executables from GitHub" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47845207))
- Finally works in Firefox (2 comments): "This is great. It makes printervention.app work on Firefox." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47845437)) "I'm glad that there's an option for Firefox at last." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47838948))

## What people warn about

- Risk may outweigh the benefit (2 comments): "If it were used mainstream for some legitimate purpose, that permission dialog would get ignored, and it'd become a security risk." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47851748)) "A lot to lose, very little to gain?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47835541))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Tampermonkey](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tampermonkey.md): 16 recommend
- [Greasemonkey](https://hackerapproved.com/p/greasemonkey.md): 16 recommend
- [Violentmonkey](https://hackerapproved.com/p/violentmonkey.md): 11 recommend
- [Refined GitHub](https://hackerapproved.com/p/refined-github.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "WebUSB Extension for Firefox", https://hackerapproved.com/p/webusb-extension-for-firefox/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).