# Dark Reader

> Dark mode for every website. Take care of your eyes, use dark theme for night and daily browsing.

Canonical page: [https://chrome-stats.com/d/darkreader](https://chrome-stats.com/d/darkreader)

## Overview

- **ID:** `darkreader`
- **Platform:** Firefox
- **Type:** Firefox add-on
- **Status:** Available
- **Publisher:** Dark Reader Ltd
- **Category:** web-development,appearance,other
- **Daily users:** 1,313,087
- **Weekly downloads:** 26,002
- **Rating:** 4.48 / 5 (6,938 ratings)
- **Version:** 4.9.131
- **Last updated:** 2026-09-14
- **First published:** 2017-09-19
- **Size:** 847 KB
- **Data as of:** 2026-09-15
- **Store listing:** [Firefox Add-ons Store](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/darkreader/)
- **Website:** [https://github.com/darkreader/darkreader](https://github.com/darkreader/darkreader)
- **Privacy policy:** [https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/darkreader/privacy/](https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/darkreader/privacy/)

## Description

Dark Reader is an eye-care Chrome extension designed to provide dark mode for every website you visit. It creates dark themes on the fly by inverting bright colors, enhancing contrast for easier nighttime reading. Users can personalize their experience by adjusting brightness, contrast, sepia filters, font settings, and managing an ignore list for specific sites.

This open-source tool prioritizes user privacy by refraining from displaying ads or sending any data. It supports comfortable browsing in low-light conditions, ensuring less eye strain during daily or nighttime use. To optimize performance, users are advised to disable similar extensions before installation. Dark Reader offers an elegant, customizable dark mode solution for all web content.

## Rankings

- #10 — Overall
- #1 — Appearance
- #1 — Other extensions
- #1 — Web Development
- #1 — header
- #1 — reader

## Permissions and access

### Permissions

- `alarms`
- `contextMenus`
- `storage`
- `tabs`
- `theme`
- `<all_urls>`

### Content script matches

- `<all_urls>`

## Safety

- **Risk impact:** High risk impact
- **Risk likelihood:** Very low risk likelihood

### Analysis details

- Grants access to browser tabs, which can be used to track user browsing habits and history, presenting a privacy concern.
- This extension was recently updated in the past month. New updates may not be stable or safe.

> Some risk analysis details are omitted from this free response. [Upgrade to view the full analysis](https://chrome-stats.com/pricing).

## Review summary

User feedback on Dark Reader is mixed but leans positive: it generally provides effective dark-mode with customizable options and aids accessibility. Users cite easy-to-tailor visuals and improved readability. However, several reviews report performance downsides, including browser slowdowns and conflicts with other extensions. Some sites (e.g., Google Docs) may exhibit image inversion issues, and onboarding can be confusing for new users. Overall, the add-on delivers a useful dark-mode experience for many, but reliability and compatibility concerns mean results vary by site, device, and setup.

### Pros

- Works well as a dark-mode solution, with reviewers noting the pages are effectively darkened.
- Accessibility-friendly features, including high-contrast options that help users sensitive to bright sites.
- Customizable appearance options (brightness, contrast, sepia) to tailor the look.
- Some reviewers report that it improves Firefox performance.

### Cons

- Notable performance slowdown and heavy resource usage on some setups, affecting browsing and possibly other extensions.

## Similar extensions and apps

- [Dark Reader](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dark-readers) — 54 users, 1.00 / 5
- [Dark Reader – Dark & Night Mode Extension](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dark-reader-dark-night-mode) — 1 users
- [Dark Mode Reader](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dark-mode-reader) — 4 users
- [DarkVision - Smart Dark Mode](https://chrome-stats.com/d/darkvision-smart-dark-mode) — 6 users
- [Dark Reader - Dark Mode for Firefox](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dark-reader-for-firefox) — 5 users
- [Dark Theme - Dark Reader for Web](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dark-theme-dark-reader-for-web) — 46 users, 5.00 / 5
- [Dark Reader - 夜间模式护眼插件](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dark-reader-%25E5%25A4%259C%25E9%2597%25B4%25E6%25A8%25A1%25E5%25BC%258F%25E6%258A%25A4%25E7%259C%25BC%25E6%258F%2592%25E4%25BB%25B6) — 29 users, 2.50 / 5
- [Dark Reader Night Eye](https://chrome-stats.com/d/soothing-dark-mode) — 1,148 users, 4.71 / 5
- [Dark Reader Lite](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dark-reader-lite-cn) — 1 users
- [Shadow Reader](https://chrome-stats.com/d/shadow-reader) — 5 users
- [Dark Mode](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dark-reader-for-ff) — 6,912 users, 3.88 / 5
- [Dark Mode](https://chrome-stats.com/d/dark-mode-by-albert-inc) — 49,733 users, 3.18 / 5

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Source: [Chrome-Stats](https://chrome-stats.com/d/darkreader)