Over 5 months my Chrome extension got a Featured badge, 893 installs, 235 weekly users, and $23 revenue — but growth is painfully slow. Is that normal?
Hey everyone,
I wanted to share a small but real update from building my Chrome extension.
I launched an AI Chrome extension called DeepRead AI. The idea is simple: it helps users summarize webpages, and generate AI replies for platforms like Gmail, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Current numbers:
- 893 installs
- 235 weekly users
- Featured badge on Chrome Web Store
- 5.0 rating with 10 reviews
- Around $25 total revenue
- 4 paid orders/subscriptions
So technically, it is not dead. People are installing it. Some people are using it. It even got the Featured badge. But at the same time, growth is still very slow, and revenue is almost nothing.
This has been interesting because before launching 5 month back, I thought the main challenge would be building the product and getting the first users. But now I realize the harder part is actually distribution, positioning, and converting users into active/paying users.
A few things I’ve learned so far:
1. A broad AI tool is hard to explain.
DeepRead can summarize, translate, solve, explain, and generate replies. That sounds useful, but maybe it is also too broad. I’m starting to think users understand products better when they solve one very specific problem.
2. Installs don’t mean habit.
A person may install an extension, try it once, and forget about it. Getting someone to install is much easier than making it part of their daily workflow.
3. The Chrome Web Store alone is not enough.
Even with a Featured badge, good screenshots, and ratings, organic growth is still slow. I expected the store to bring more traffic, but it doesn’t seem enough by itself.
4. Free users don’t automatically become paid users.
I give free credits, but that does not mean people will upgrade. I probably need to improve the “aha moment” and make the paid value much clearer.
5. Building feels easier than distribution.
As a developer, I can keep adding features forever. But honestly, the bigger problem right now is getting the right users and making the value obvious in the first few minutes.
Right now, I’m not sure what the best next move is.
I’m considering a few options:
- narrow it down to one audience, like students, researchers, or busy professionals
- focus only on one strong use case, like PDF/webpage summarization
- focus more on Gmail/LinkedIn reply generation
- improve onboarding before trying more marketing
- create short-form content around productivity and reading faster
- run small paid ads and test messaging
- or maybe reposition the whole product because “AI browser assistant” is too generic
I’m sharing this because I think a lot of builders are in a similar place: the product works, people use it a little, but growth is slow and it’s unclear what to fix first.
For those of you who have grown Chrome extensions, AI tools, or small SaaS products:
What would you do if you had 893 installs, 235 weekly users, a Featured badge, but only around $25 revenue?
Would you focus first on positioning, onboarding, pricing, content, ads, or something else?