If you are starting a browser extension in 2026, you no longer hand-roll a manifest.json, wire up a Webpack config, and pray that hot reload works on content scripts. Three projects now own this space: Plasmo, CRXJS, and WXT.
They look similar from the README, but they make very different bets. One is a full opinionated framework. One is just a build plugin. One tries to be the "Nuxt of extensions." Pick wrong and you will feel it six months in, usually when you try to ship to Firefox or upgrade a dependency.
This post breaks down all three by the things that actually matter day to day, then gives you a straight decision guide. No "it depends" cop-outs.
TL;DR comparison table
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