What Happened to Chrome Apps? The Best Free Chrome Extensions to Use Instead in 2026

Back in 2010 we wrote a roundup of "25 Amazing Free Google Chrome Web Apps" — but that platform no longer exists. Google announced its sunset in January 2020 and pulled the plug across Chrome OS, Windows, Mac and Linux by June 2022. This refreshed guide explains what replaced Chrome Apps and gives you a clean, modern shortlist of the best free Chrome extensions to install in 2026.

What happened to Chrome Apps?

Chrome Apps were a special class of downloadable, sandboxed applications that ran inside Chrome and Chrome OS. They had their own launcher, could work offline, and even accessed hardware like USB devices. They felt halfway between a web page and a native desktop app — and for a few years, the Chrome Web Store pushed them hard.

In January 2020, Google announced on the Chromium Blog that it would phase the platform out. The reason was simple: modern web technology had caught up. Service workers, push notifications, offline storage and hardware APIs meant a regular web app could now do almost everything a Chrome App could.

The retirement rolled out in stages:

• June 2021 — end of support for Chrome Apps on Windows, Mac and Linux for general consumers.
• June 2022 — end of support for enterprise/education users, and full removal from Chrome OS for everyone.
• By late 2022, the "Apps" section had been removed from the Chrome Web Store entirely.

If you still see an old "Apps" shortcut anywhere, it's a dead link. Many popular Chrome Apps either shut down, became normal websites, or relaunched as Progressive Web Apps (PWAs).

The shift to Chrome Extensions and PWAs

The Chrome Web Store is still very much alive — but in 2026 it carries only two real things:

• Extensions — small add-ons that modify or enhance the browser itself (ad blockers, password managers, screenshot tools, AI assistants).
• Themes — cosmetic skins for Chrome's UI.

Everything that used to be a "Chrome App" — Gmail Offline, Google Keep, Pocket, Spotify, Trello, Evernote — now lives as a Progressive Web App (PWA). You install a PWA by visiting the site in Chrome and clicking the install icon in the address bar. It then opens in its own window, works offline, and can send notifications, exactly like the old Chrome Apps did, but without a separate platform.

The other big shift is Manifest V3, Google's new extension platform. Since 2024 all extensions in the Chrome Web Store must be MV3-compatible. MV3 tightens permissions, requires service workers instead of persistent background pages, and (controversially) limits the network-blocking APIs that ad blockers rely on. The biggest casualty: the classic full uBlock Origin was pulled from the Chrome Web Store in late 2024, replaced by the leaner uBlock Origin Lite.

The best free Chrome extensions for 2026

Here are 12 free extensions worth installing in 2026. All are Manifest V3-compatible and still actively maintained. Treat this as a starting shortlist — install the ones that match how you actually use the web, not all twelve.

1. uBlock Origin Lite

The official MV3 successor to the classic uBlock Origin, built by the same developer (Raymond Hill). It uses Chrome's new declarativeNetRequest API, so it's less powerful than the old version but still blocks the overwhelming majority of ads, trackers and malware domains with almost no battery or memory cost. If you only install one extension in 2026, make it this one. Visit uBlock Origin Lite »

2. Bitwarden — Free Password Manager

Open-source, end-to-end encrypted, and free for unlimited passwords across unlimited devices. Bitwarden auto-fills logins, generates strong passwords, and can store passkeys, credit cards and secure notes. In 2026 it's the default recommendation for anyone who doesn't want to pay for a password manager. Visit Bitwarden »

3. 1Password

The polished commercial alternative to Bitwarden. The extension itself is free; you need a 1Password subscription to actually use it. Worth it if you're already in the Apple/family-plan ecosystem, want passkey sync across browsers, or like the cleaner UI and Watchtower breach alerts. Visit 1Password »

4. Dark Reader

Instantly turns every website you visit into a true dark mode — not just an inverted-colors hack, but a thoughtfully recolored version that keeps images and contrast usable. Great for late-night reading and easier on OLED displays. Open source and Manifest V3 compatible. Visit Dark Reader »

5. Grammarly

The grammar and spelling assistant that lives inside every text field in your browser — Gmail, Docs, Slack, LinkedIn, your CMS. The free tier covers spelling, grammar and basic clarity suggestions; paid tiers add tone and AI rewriting. Still the easiest "write better" upgrade for anyone who writes in English. Visit Grammarly »

6. ChatGPT for Google (AI sidebar)

Adds a ChatGPT (and often Gemini/Claude) sidebar next to your normal Google search results, so you get a summary AI answer alongside the regular blue links. Different forks exist; pick a maintained one with clear permissions. Useful if you've stopped trusting the first page of search results. Find on Chrome Web Store »

7. Awesome Screenshot & Screen Recorder

One-click full-page screenshots, region capture, annotation, and screen recording with webcam overlay. The free tier is generous and the recordings export to MP4 or upload to a shareable link. A solid replacement for the dozens of half-broken screenshot apps that used to live in the old Chrome Apps section. Visit Awesome Screenshot »

8. Loom

Quick screen + camera recording for explainer videos, bug reports and async standups. Click record, talk through what you're doing, and Loom uploads and gives you a shareable link before you've closed the tab. The free plan covers short videos, which is enough for most everyday use. Visit Loom »

9. Raindrop.io

With Pocket effectively shut down in 2025, Raindrop.io has become the de-facto "save it for later" tool. It bookmarks pages, web highlights, videos and PDFs into clean, taggable collections that sync across devices. The free tier is unlimited. Visit Raindrop.io »

10. Notion Web Clipper

If your second brain lives in Notion, this is the quickest way to feed it. One click saves the current page (clean text, source URL, tags) into any Notion database — useful for research, recipes, articles to read later, or competitive intel. Visit Notion Web Clipper »

11. OneTab

The classic tab hoarder's lifesaver. Click the button and every open tab collapses into a single list — reclaiming RAM and CPU instantly. You can restore individual tabs or whole sessions later. Tiny, free, no account needed, still working perfectly under Manifest V3. Visit OneTab »

12. Vimium

For keyboard-first power users: Vimium lets you navigate the web with Vim-style key bindings. Hit f to follow links, J/K to switch tabs, / to find on page. Steep learning curve but, once it sticks, you'll never want a mouse again. Open source. Visit Vimium »

Notable apps that became PWAs (and what replaced the rest)

Most popular old Chrome Apps didn't die — they just moved. A quick map of what happened to the big ones:

• Gmail Offline / Google Docs / Google Keep / Google Drive — all now full PWAs. Visit gmail.com or docs.google.com in Chrome and click the install icon in the address bar.
• YouTube and YouTube Music — both available as PWAs with full offline playback for Premium subscribers.
• Spotify — installable PWA at open.spotify.com, behaves almost identically to the old Chrome App.
• Notion, Trello, Slack, Figma, Linear — all run as PWAs that open in their own window, with notifications and offline support.
• TweetDeck — was rolled into X Pro and is now behind a paid X Premium subscription.
• Pocket — Mozilla shut Pocket down in 2025. The closest modern replacements are Raindrop.io, Matter and Instapaper.
• Evernote Web Clipper — still available as a Chrome extension, though many people have moved to Notion Web Clipper or Obsidian Web Clipper.

If you remember an old Chrome App fondly, the fastest test is: search the product name + "PWA" or just visit the website. Nine times out of ten, there's an Install button waiting in the address bar.

How to install and audit a Chrome extension safely in 2026

Extensions are powerful — they can read pages, modify them, and sometimes see your passwords. A bad one is a privacy disaster. Before you click Install:

• Check permissions. The Chrome Web Store lists them right under the Add button. "Read and change all your data on all websites" is normal for ad blockers and password managers, suspicious for a calculator or wallpaper changer.
• Look at the user count and recency of reviews. 1,000+ active users plus reviews from the last 6 months is a good sign. A 5-star extension with 12 reviews and no updates since 2022 is a red flag.
• Identify the developer. Click their name in the listing. Established companies, well-known open-source maintainers and "Featured" badges are reassuring.
• Prefer open source. uBlock Origin Lite, Bitwarden, Dark Reader and Vimium all have public source code on GitHub. If something fishy is going on, somebody usually catches it.
• Watch out for sold or abandoned extensions. A common attack pattern: a developer sells a popular extension, the new owner pushes a "silent" update that injects ads or steals tokens. Check the changelog and the developer's website periodically.
• Confirm Manifest V3 compatibility. By 2026 the Chrome Web Store enforces this, but if you sideload anything, make sure it's MV3 or it simply won't run.
• Audit what you already have. Open chrome://extensions at least every couple of months. Disable anything you don't recognize or haven't used in 30 days.

How to Build a Lean, Fast Chrome Browser in 2026

The single biggest performance and privacy upgrade you can give Chrome in 2026 is to install fewer extensions. Every extension you add has to wake up its service worker, attach to pages, and ask for permissions. Five carefully chosen extensions will beat fifteen overlapping ones on memory, battery and security every time.

A good baseline kit is: one ad blocker (uBlock Origin Lite), one password manager (Bitwarden or 1Password), one productivity tool you actually use (Raindrop.io, Notion Web Clipper, or OneTab), and one quality-of-life tweak (Dark Reader or Grammarly). Almost everything else should live as a PWA, not an extension — Gmail, Docs, Spotify, Notion, Slack, even ChatGPT all install cleanly from the address bar and run in their own windows without taxing the browser process.

Then audit. Open chrome://extensions today, remove anything you haven't opened in a month, and revoke any "on all sites" permission an extension doesn't actually need. A leaner Chrome is a faster, safer Chrome — and it's the closest thing in 2026 to the simple, focused experience the old Chrome Apps promised back in 2010.

Sources & Further Reading

• Chrome Web Store
• Google's Chrome Apps deprecation announcement
• Chrome Manifest V3 overview

Frequently Asked Questions