Plasmo vs CRXJS vs WXT: Which Chrome Extension Framework Should You Use in 2026? (opens in new tab)

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 upgr...