Most browser extension recommendations are padded lists designed to fill a blog post. This one isn’t. These three extensions address real, ongoing privacy and security threats — the kind that affect most people’s browsing every day.
1. uBlock Origin — the ad and tracker blocker that actually works
Most people have heard of ad blockers. uBlock Origin is the best one, and by a significant margin. It blocks ads, trackers, malware domains, and pop-ups using community-maintained blocklists. It’s open source, uses minimal memory compared to competitors like AdBlock Plus, and doesn’t whitelist advertisers who pay for the privilege (which AdBlock Plus does).
Install it, leave the default settings on, and you’re done. The default configuration blocks the vast majority of trackers without requiring you to configure anything. If a site breaks because of it (rare), click the power button icon to temporarily disable it for that site.
Available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. Search “uBlock Origin” in your browser’s extension store. Note: Chrome is phasing out the extension API that uBlock Origin relies on. If you use Chrome, this still works for now — but Firefox gives it more room to operate without restrictions.
2. Bitwarden — a password manager that lives in your browser
Reusing passwords is the single biggest security mistake most people make. When one site gets breached, attackers try those credentials on every other site automatically — a process called credential stuffing. Bitwarden solves this by generating unique, strong passwords for every site and storing them encrypted.
The browser extension autofills passwords on sites you’ve saved, makes it easy to generate new ones when you sign up for something, and syncs across all your devices. The free plan covers everything most people need. There’s a paid plan ($10/year) that adds secure storage for 2FA codes, emergency access, and other features.
Setup takes about 10 minutes. Go to bitwarden.com, create an account with a strong master password (this is the one you’ll need to remember — make it a passphrase, like four random words strung together), install the extension, and log in. Then, over the next few weeks, update your passwords as you log into things — your old ones will get replaced automatically.
3. Privacy Badger — adaptive tracker blocking from EFF
Privacy Badger, built by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, works differently from uBlock Origin. Instead of using blocklists, it watches for tracking behavior — if a domain follows you across multiple sites, it starts blocking it. This means it catches trackers that haven’t made it onto the standard blocklists yet.
uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger complement each other. uBlock blocks known bad actors by list. Privacy Badger blocks behavioral tracking it discovers on its own. Run both and you’re covering two different threat models.
Privacy Badger is available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and Firefox for Android. Install from the EFF’s site at privacybadger.org or directly from your browser’s extension store. No configuration needed — it learns over time as you browse.
What to skip
A few popular extensions aren’t worth installing. Ghostery collects browsing data itself and has a complicated relationship with the ad industry. Honey (owned by PayPal) reads your purchase history. Most VPN extensions are less effective than a real VPN app and some are outright malicious. Stick to extensions with clear ownership, open source code, and a straightforward business model — which is why the three above made the list.
The bottom line
Install uBlock Origin first — it’s the highest-impact change you can make to a browser in under a minute. Add Bitwarden if you’re not already using a password manager. Add Privacy Badger as a complement to uBlock for layered tracker protection. That’s it. Three extensions, twenty minutes of setup, meaningfully better security and privacy from that point forward.