This is not simply a list of the highest rated extensions. The Chrome shop mixes up the list with featured extensions and advertisements, which makes the list random and therefore unclear. The average person’s attention span is 8 seconds. So I took the first 47 and analysed them into something useful. Sticking with the wisdom of the crowd and democratic choice, this article bases its list on a combination of 5/5 ratings and number of users from the first 47 results of the path Chrome shop – extensions – productivity – ratings. There is a brief description of the product and its pricing as well (although almost 100% are free).

1 – 12: the best of the bunch. 13 +: the rest

 

1. LastPass

5/5: 6561; 933,397 users

This has been an absolute revelation to me! I had no idea how many logins and passwords I had from over the years in my browsers. Having them all centralised and manageable from one place is, for me, one of the single greatest things I have encountered. Definitely worth it if you have a lot of logins in a lot of places. I hope it inspires better password habits in me. Description:  Pricing: Free for PC; $12 per annum for mobile devices

2. Smooth Gestures

5/5: 9656; 577,767 users

Despite it’s negative past with bugs and malware, Smooth Gestures promises that this time around you won’t have any of that. The concept is great – make page navigation and other point-and-click options much easier by predefined movements. Less hand-cramp for me from my touchpad! Description:  Pricing: free

3. Click and clean

5/5: 18,219; 437,568 users

The list below shows you what it can do. I am not too adventurous with my websites, I basically land on the same 15 – 20 every day. So I like checking back through my history to see where I’ve been. But if you do not have a personal laptop/computer, then it may be prudent to wipe it at the end of every day. This extension makes it simple and swift to clear everything. Description: Pricing: free

4. Checker Plus for Gmail

5/5: 2741; 408,068 users

There’s a great review here from PC World. If you like to keep on top of your emails, doggedly fighting them off all day, this is a great extension for you. If you hate being bombarded, then avoid it! The best feature for me is the way I can assess the importance of the email before opening it. Description: Pricing: free5. Diigo Web Highlighter 5/5: 4,200; 208,332 users

5. Diigo Web Highlighter

5/5: 4,200; 208,332 users

As a researcher, it’s pretty awesome to be able to highlight and write notes on webpages, especially because bookmarking can just be too general. Many times I have gone back over a webpage FURIOUSLY scrolling for that quote I glanced over the day before. This would do very well in academic circles. More information here. Description: Pricing: free

  1.  Bookmark links to archive webpages or to read later 2.  Attach highlights & stickies to a webpage as a reminder 3.  Share pages with annotation via Twitter, Facebook, Google Buzz 4.  Access anywhere, via iPhone, iPad (http://bit.ly/e2ujpL), Android  (http://goo.gl/tvbuq). 5.  Create groups to pool findings, share resources or curate content 6.  Automatically cross-post to social bookmarking site Delicious (optional)”

6. Session buddy

5/5: 5,591; 174,814 users

If you are demon for having a mountain of tabs open, you might want to consider Session Buddy. Prevent tab loss and also speed up your browser by using this neat extension to make your tabby-licious life easier to handle – and save yourself from losing info for good. Description: Pricing: free ●  View and save the state of all open browser tabs in the current or past browser sessions. ●  Quickly restore your tabs and resume your web surfing after a browser or system crash. ●  Edit the sessions you’ve saved and restore them into the desired set of windows at any time. ●  Create a session from a list of URLs and export sessions to text or CSV format. ●  Consolidate sessions and eliminate duplicate tabs with ease.”

7. Shortcuts for Google

5/5: 2,715; 123,596 users

Are you a Google product addict? I am becoming one. I was starting to think there would be no room whatsoever left on my screen what with all the little tabs taking me to other Google places. Thankfully, this little issue has been solved with a pop-up of all Google’s services in one button. Lovely! Description: Pricing: free

8. YouTube ratings preview

5/5: 2573; 132,609 users

If the popularity of a video is important to you, then this ratings bar will make your life way easier when quickly searching for the top content. Description: Pricing: free

9. StayFocusd

5/5: 2248; 322,596 users

There are a few of these “block me” extensions on the list. This ranked highest. If you really have a tough time staying on task when working on a computer, and you have no internet restrictions at work, you probably need a solution like this. The issue for me is that quite a bit of my work involves being on social media anyway :) Description: Pricing : free

10. Vimium

5/5: 1436; 88,104 users

Are you a shortcut hound? Vimium is maximising the amount you can get done with shortcut keys. If using a mouse is a pain to you, then check it out. It just takes a little learning to get the hang of. Description: Pricing: free NOTE Google does not allow Vimium to run on this gallery page and the Chrome New Tab page, by design. NOTE Chrome has some alarmist messaging around the permissions that Vimium needs to run. Really all it’s asking for is that its javascript be loaded into every page. Don’t be alarmed. Vimium never talks to any servers and does absolutely nothing with your data. Read the open source code if you’re paranoid.”

11. Black menu for Google

5/5: 1403; 135,298 users

As far as my research can tell, there is not a whole lot of difference between this and the more popular Google Shortcuts mentioned earlier. It is bigger and easier to read, perhaps, but essentially seems to do the same thing. One of those “personal preference” things, I guess. Description: Pricing: free

12. Cloudy calculator

5/5: 1285; 103,125 users

What is there to say? It’s a calculator. The people’s favourite. Description: Pricing: free

13. AnswerQi: Tech answers on demand

5/5: 104; 351 users

Description: Pricing: First question: free 1 question: $29 4 questions: $87 Unlimited: $79 per month

14. Markdown Here

5/5: 66; 7,503 users

Description: Pricing: free This is great for anyone who doesn’t like fiddling around with formatting buttons while writing an email. It’s especially good for programmers who write email with code in them — it even supports syntax highlighting. And for the mathematicians among us: Markdown Here will render TeX formulae as well. 1. Write your email in your email client’s rich editor using Github-flavoured Markdown. 2. Right-click in the compose area and then click “Markdown Toggle”. 3. Your email is now pretty! (That is, it’s been rendered to HTML.) 4. If you like the way it looks, just send it. If you want to change or add something, click “Markdown Toggle” again to get back to your original Markdown. Rinse and repeat.”

15. Calculator

5/5: 44; 1,432 users

Description: Pricing: free

16. NeoBux AdAlert 

5/5: 93; 34,068 users

Only for Neobux users Description: Pricing: free

17. Sound control for Pandora 

5/5: 710; 21,349 users

For Pandora users Description: Pricing: free Click Once: play or pause Twice: open the Miniplayer Other configurable options include: skip a song, toggle between the pandora tab and back, thumb up or down. More Features: Keyboard shortcuts, Art on the button, Hidden tab, Audio ad volume, Skip “still listening”

18. Extensity

5/5: 67; 4,993 users

Description:

19. Looper for YouTube

5/5: 379; 67,999 users

Description:

  • Keep your browser fast – disable extensions that you won’t use right away. * Keep your toolbar clean * Ideal companion for extensions collectors.”  Pricing: free Pricing: free Key Features: – ** Able to set default auto loop on every video ** – Able to set loop in a portion/range – Able to set loop how many time you want – Use Content Script without background page » means less memory used – Able to use keyboard shortcut ‘P’ to start loop – Set “&loop=10” in url to start loop for 10 times – Set “&start=00:10&end=01:00” to start loop from 10s to 1 min – When loop button pressed the playlist auto-play will be disabled – Able to set continue the playlist after loop number of times – Support HTTPS and both flash&html5 version of player – Match latest (2013) YouTube style, and use YouTube’s repeat/loop icon – Translation on Chinese – display according to YouTube language New Extra Features: – Able to set auto video quality (e.g. Auto HD) – Able to use ‘spacebar’ as play/pause video – Able to set auto player size (i.e. normal, wide, wider)”

20. Facebook Qsearch

5/5: 30; 10,716 users

Description: Pricing: free

21. IQTELL EZ Bar – Get Things Done 

5/5: 40; 2,177 users

must be an active beta user to use it 5/5: 40; 2,177 users  Description: Pricing: free Use the IQTELL EZ Bar extension for Google Chrome™ to quickly capture any items for later review directly in your IQTELL account. Never forget what you need to do; online or offline, easily create: ✔ Inbox items ✔ Actions & Next Actions (and set Contexts) ✔ Projects ✔ Someday items ✔ Ticklers • Quick Clip – Right-click on any page or selected text to clip to your IQTELL Workspace. • EZ Switch – Switch to your IQTELL Workspace in Chrome using a keyboard shortcut. • EZ Open – Activate the EZ Bar using a keyboard shortcut.”

5/5: 651; 498,641 users

Description: Pricing: free

23. Tabs Outliner

5/5: 660; 30,630 users

Description: Pricing: free

24. Lingua Leo

5/5: 507; 140,726 users

Description: Pricing: free

25. Simple window saver

5/5: 207; 9,387 users

Description: Pricing: free

26. Comment blocker

5/5: 65; 3,383 users

Description: Pricing: donate if desired

27. Panic Button Plus

5/5: 59; 11,680 users

Description: Pricing: free

28. Extensions Manager (aka Switcher)

5/5: 243; 41,774 users

Description: Pricing: free

29. Extensions (new tab)

5/5: 46; 2,092 users

Description: Pricing : free

  1. Open from Context Menu 2. Change Icon 3. Add / Remove from context menu”

30. Zenbox

5/5: 27; 1,208 users

Description: Pricing: free

31. Boards for Trello

*only for Trello users 5/5: 37; 3985 users

Description: Pricing: free

32. Benchwarmer: Dribbble for Chrome

5/5: 36; 5490 users

Description: Pricing: free

33. OneTab

5/5: 686; 165,474 users

Description: Pricing: free

5/5: 115; 15,613 users

Description: Pricing: free Examples:

  • Find your Top 10 most-used bookmarks:  Click the “auto_bookmark” pie slice on the Transition Type chart. * View the Top 10 domains you’ve visited today:  Click the “Today” link in the “Daily Stats” section. * Find out what URLs you visit at 3 in the morning:  On the “Time of Day” chart, click the bar (if it exists) for 3am, then click the URLs tab.”

35. Better TTV

must be a Twitch user 5/5: 93; 21,119 users

Description: Pricing: free

36. Clipular

5/5: 77; 30,228 users

Description: Pricing: free – Screen capture anything you can see. – Source links, page titles, texts are captured at the same time. – Email: Drag the Recent clip from the Clipular chrome extension into gmail and share visually. – One-click to Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Google Plus from the Clipular chrome extension. – Paste to share encrypted link directly after snapping/clipping. – Screenshots are auto-saved to www.clipular.com – You can also save locally to your desktop/folder: drag the Recent clip from the extension to desktop. – Annotate/filter screenshots with the Magic Wand. – Organize screenshots with tags. – Search texts inside screenshots. – Also flash game screenshots”

37. Yesware

5/5: 510; 129,773 users

Description: Pricing: free

38. Webtimer

5/5: 133; 15,516 users

Description: Pricing: free

39. Cloudmagic

5/5: 512; 33,332 users

Description: Pricing: Free up to 50 previews a month $4.99 per month for unlimited views

40. New Tab Plus

4/5: 1,007; 67,670 users

Description: Pricing: free

41. AVG Do Not Track

5/5: 89; 25,376 users

Description: Pricing: free

42. Crackbook

5/5: 27; 736 users

Description: Pricing: free

43. Wikipedia Quick Hints

5/5: 47; 3,999 users

Description: Pricing: free

5/5: 3; 10,254 users

Description: Pricing: free

45. Biticker

5/5: 29; 2275 users

Description: Pricing: free

46. History Eraser

5/5: 2795; 115,036 users

Description:  Pricing: free This lightweight extension enables you to do all that mentioned above instantly, with one click on the Eraser icon in the Chrome toolbar.”

47. One Number

5/5: 1769; 24,377 users

Description: Pricing: free