Dark Reader: Dark Mode for Every Website in Chrome

Many websites still have no dark theme of their own. Dark Reader fills the gap: it creates a dark version of almost any page as it loads, which is easier on the eyes at night and helpful for people sensitive to bright light.

Controls you get

• Brightness and contrast sliders to fine-tune the dark theme.
• Sepia filter for a warmer, paper-like tone instead of pure dark.
• Font settings for the text on pages.
• Per-site switch: turn Dark Reader on or off for a specific website.
• System sync: follow your operating system’s dark mode automatically.
• Already-dark detection: sites that are dark by design are left unchanged.

Installing Dark Reader

1. The Download button opens the original Dark Reader listing on the Chrome Web Store.
2. Click Add to Chrome. The extension needs access to the sites you visit to restyle them.
3. Click the icon to adjust the theme, or add sites to the exclusion list.

Disable other dark-mode extensions first; the developer warns that similar extensions can conflict.

Is it free?

This needs a clear answer, because the developer’s terms are unusual. Dark Reader for Chrome can be installed and used without paying in advance, but the terms of use strongly advise users to pay a user fee, and organizations are asked to buy a yearly per-user corporate subscription. A paid Dark Reader Plus adds a special interface and extra features. The Safari version is a separate paid app.

Data

According to the store listing, the developer does not collect or use your data. Some of Dark Reader’s code is published under the MIT licence. If you also want a keyboard-driven way to move around pages, Vimium works well alongside it.