Top 15 Chrome Extensions for Boosting your Productivity at Work

For this article, we went through the Chrome Web Store to find 15 of the best add-ons that will assist you in your work and supercharge your productivity.

• AdBlock - Best for keeping your browser safe
• StayFocusd - Best for focusing at work
• Todoist - Best for managing tasks
• Clockify - Best for managing time
• RescueTime - Best for spotting activity patterns
• Grammarly - Best for proofreading and grammar checks
• LastPass - Best for securing passwords
• Loom - Best for video message recording
• Forest - Best for focusing in a pleasant manner
• Momentum - Best for getting focused in the morning
• Noisli - Best for creating an atmosphere
• Scribe - Best for creating process tutorials
• Google Keep - Best for taking notes
• Just Read - Best for reading online
• Session Buddy - Best for organizing tabs

All these extensions are tested and the best part is that they are all available for free!

The best Chrome extensions at a glance

AdBlock

The list needs to start with AdBlock, one of our favorites! With over 200 million downloads, this Chrome extension helps you block ads so that you can concentrate on your work and not waste time getting distracted. In case you want to see ads on a particular website, then you also have an option to add them to the whitelist.

Why use AdBlock?

• A safer and reader-friendly browsing experience
• A shorter time spent for loading web pages
• No distractions that can interfere with your activity.

Features: blocks webpage, video, and social media ads, removes pop-ups and banners, protects against malware and advertiser tracking

Pricing: Free

StayFocusd

Do you feel that social media websites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are distracting you and killing your productivity? Then try using StayFocusd to temporarily block them or limit the time you can spend on these websites each day. Once your allotted time has been used up, the sites you have blocked will be inaccessible for the rest of the day.

Why use StayFocusd?

• Highly configurable - lets you block an entire site or specific subdomains, pages or content
• Does not collect any personal information or track your usage

Features: blocks websites you consider distracting (e.g., social media), customizable blocking rules

Pricing: Free

Todoist

Todoist is a very simple to-do list to help you keep yourself organized and stress-free. We invite you to join the 10million+ people around the world who are using this simple, yet powerful task manager built for the pace of modern life. With just a few clicks, you can view, add, organize, complete, and delegate tasks directly from Google Chrome.

Why use Todoist?

• Manage all your tasks right from your browser
• Manage all your tasks from anywhere, even offline
• Quickly view and prioritize your tasks for the day or week ahead with visual, drag-and-drop scheduling
• Flexible enough to handle any type of work, from personal lists up to bigger projects at the office
• Can be used on multiple devices.

Features: quick add for new tasks, recurring due dates, reminders, 80+ integrations

Pricing: Free for 1 user and up to 5 personal projects; prices start at $4/month for more than 5 projects or multiple users.

Clockify

This is a very productive Chrome extension that can help you analyze the time you spend on a particular project or a website. It is the only 100% free time management tool for teams and independent users. Besides the tracking functionality, it allows you to export data and generate reports used to analyze productivity, manage projects and monitor progress.

Why use Clockify?

• Automatically start/stop when you open/close the browser
• Idle detection when you are away from the computer
• Easy integration with 50+ web apps such as Jira, Trello, Asana, Gitlab, Basecamp, Slack, Github, Google Calendar
• Option to active the Pomodoro timer that breaks down work into intervals, separated by short breaks

Features: timer, calendar, auto time tracking, reporting, scheduling, timesheets

Pricing: Free version with limited features; Prices start at $3.99/user/month for premium versions.

RescueTime

This tool surely has a bigger picture of your productivity by managing your time online. At the end of the day, you can see how much time you spent on productive work and how much you spent on unproductive websites.

Why use RescueTime?

• Automatic ranking of websites and full control over the rankings
• Lets you see how you spent your time on a day, week, or month basis
• Also, works for desktop apps and mobile devices using a downloadable client.

Features: auto time tracking, offline time tracking, assistant, reporting, reminders, timesheets

Pricing: Free version with limited features; $12/month for the Premium version.

Update late 2024: Chrome Extension store notifies us that this extension may soon no longer be supported because it doesn't follow best practices for Chrome extensions.

Grammarly

Are you a perfectionist who always tries to find the best words in each online conversation? Or maybe you work at such a fast pace than inevitable some errors might appear? Whatever the situation, Grammarly is a must-have assistant that actively improves your writing style in just a few clicks. It goes deeper than grammar and offers you comprehensive feedback, making you confident that your writing is not only correct but clear and concise, too.

Why use Grammarly?

• Enables high-quality writing by checking grammar, spelling and also phrasing
• Compatible with the text fields on most websites, including Gmail, Google Docs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Wordpress
• Trusted by millions of users.

Features: paragraph rewrites, AI-generated drafts, email reply suggestions, personalized writing suggestions, proofreading

Pricing: Free version with limited features; prices start at $12/user/month for pro versions.

LastPass

Each one of us has experienced situations in which had to waste a lot of time by clicking the ‘Forgot Password’ option and going through a lengthy process of reset, maybe just minutes before an important deadline or a staff meeting. By installing this useful tool, these situations will not bother you again! LastPass is a password manager extension that will save all of your passwords safely and securely in one place. You only have to remember one master password and it will help you auto-login to all your saved accounts.

Why use LastPass?

• Auto fills all necessary fields, auto-login and password sync
• Always generates secure passwords as you sign up on sites
• Free to use on any computer, laptop, phone or tablet
• Anything you save on one device is instantly available on all your other devices
• Trusted by millions of people and businesses to keep their information safe.

Features: save and autofill passwords, cross-platform access, weak password detection, encrypted password vaults

Pricing: Free version with limited features for 1 user; prices start at $2.32/month for pro and multi-user versions.

Alternative password manager extension for Chrome: Bitwarden Password Manager

Loom

Loom is a new kind of work communication tool that helps you get your message across through instantly shareable video. We all know the saying "a picture is worth a thousand words", don’t we? So, reach the next level of collaborating with your team and choose videos to express your thoughts more clearly and comprehensively, with a more personal touch.

Why use Loom?

• Unlimited recording: with no limitations, you can record for hours at a time if you’d like
• Embed anywhere with instantly generate embed HTML
• Integrations with Gmail, Slack, Jira and many more.

Features: easy message video recording, video-to-text, screen recording, video editing, integrations

Pricing: Free for up to 5 min/video, 25 videos/person; prices start at $12.5/user/month for unlimited videos and recording length.

Forest

The developers of this extension imagined a very attractive and creative method for managing productivity, by growing an animated tree while focusing on the sites from your whitelist. If you don’t resist the temptation and browse the blacklisted sites meanwhile, the tree dies and the mission fails!

Why use Forest?

• A self-motivated and interesting method to help you beat Internet addiction
• Cultivate your pattern of time management
• Share your trees with friends.

Features: personal time management patterns, focus methods, sharing options

Pricing: Free

Momentum

The working day would not be complete without a little touch of inspiration. With this extension, you can add some zen to your browsing experience. Give yourself a moment of calm and motivation to be more productive. Get started with a daily photo and quote, set a daily focus, and track your to-dos.

Why use Momentum?

• New inspirational photo and quote each day
• Set a daily goal/focus/intention
• Keep track of tasks with the to-do list
• Feel good and get things done.

Features: daily inspiration (photos and quotes), to-do list, daily focus, shortcuts, weather info

Pricing: Free version; Paid Plus version for $3.33/month.

Noisli

This Chrome extension creates the ideal soundscapes for work, relaxation, and even sleep. You can mix ambient sounds, such as the sounds of the ocean, birds, waterfalls, thunders, and more, and create a different background for concentration, study, writing, relaxing, and more. In addition, Noisli provides a distraction-free text editor and a timer to keep your sessions well-organized.

Why use Noisli?

• The perfect soundscapes for your type of work or relaxation
• Timed sessions
• Reduced distractions

Features: high-quality ambient sounds, curated playlists, timer, distraction-free text editor

Pricing: Free for 1 user and limited features; prices start at $8/month for more features or users.

Scribe

If your work involves taking a lot of screenshots, Scribe is the Chrome extension you want. It allows you to automatically capture processes on any website and edit them. You can add titles and descriptions, create GIFs, insert tips and alerts, format the text, add your company’s logo, and so much more. Once the guide is ready, you can redact sensitive information. Your team can access information via Scribe Sidekick and learn step by step.

Why use Scribe?

• Automatic guide creation
• Guide editing from A to Z, including redacting sensitive information
• Valuable viewer insights and feedback to use for the next processes

Features: process auto-capture, process customization, AI-based tools, 100+ integrations

Pricing: Free for 1 user and limited features; prices start at $12/month for more features or users.

Google Keep

Google Keep is a quick way to take notes. It integrates with Google services, which means you have access to your notes from any device. Furthermore, Google Keep provides tools for organizing notes, prioritizing, and including images. If you read an article and want to save a quote, this Chrome extension is here to help you.

Why use Google Keep?

• Fast method for taking notes when not using your own device
• Get all your notes in your Google account
• Helpful labels and color codes to organize notes

Features: note taking, note labeling and categorizing, adding images to notes, synchronization with Google services

Pricing: Free.

Just Read

Tired of all the things that come between you and the article you want to read? Try Just Read, a Chrome extension that gets rid of ads, distractions, calls to action, invitations, and many more. It even lets you customize the style of a page for more comfortable reading, creates AI-powered summarizations, and provides auto-runs.

Why use Just Read?

• Removes distractions of all sorts allowing you to focus on text
• Change the style of the page to match your reading pattern

Features: ad and distraction blocker, AI summarization, theme customization, deletion of unwanted elements

Pricing: Free version with limited features; $2/month for the Premium version.

Session Buddy

If you work with multiple open tabs at the same time, you must be careful how you manage them. Session Buddy is a tab manager Chrome extension that helps you organize tabs in collections, recover open tabs after a browser crash, and use bookmarks and other organizational tools.

Why use Session Buddy?

• Never lose a tab again
• Keep all the open tabs you need well-organized in collections
• Spend less time looking for valuable information

Features: save open tabs, restore open tabs after browser crash, bookmarks, collections, search tools

Pricing: Free.

Alternative tab manager extension for Chrome: OneTab

Conclusion

This top 15 Google Chrome extensions for productivity will help you chart a course to be more successful in your projects, work, and browsing experience. All of these can be easily found in the Chrome web store. Some of these will help you increase your productivity, some of them won’t be for you, but may help a friend or a colleague on your team. Remember, sharing is caring!