How Cool Easy extensions stay free with no accounts and no ads
Free software usually means you're the product. Cool Easy doesn't run ads or sell data — so here's the actual model behind it.
The standard model — and why Cool Easy doesn't use it
Most free software is free because the user is the product. Analytics track what you do. Ad networks serve content based on your profile. Usage data gets packaged and monetized. Sometimes it's explicit; sometimes it's buried in a privacy policy nobody reads.
A smaller category of free software is genuinely free — open source, or funded by grants or institutional backing. But that category tends to be either technical (developer tools) or underfunded (abandoned after the initial burst of enthusiasm).
Cool Easy doesn't fit either pattern. The six extensions are free, have no accounts, and don't collect any data. Here's what's actually behind that.
How it works
Sponsored by DayViewer
Cool Easy is backed by DayViewer, a business productivity platform. DayViewer covers the development and maintenance costs. In return, a number of the extension store listings note the sponsorship — it's a brand presence in a different part of the productivity space, aimed at a slightly different audience.
This is straightforward sponsorship: DayViewer pays for something useful to exist, the extensions are transparent about the relationship, and users get tools that don't come with strings attached.
No monetization on the user side
Because development is covered externally, there's no need to recover costs from users. That means:
- No ads. The extensions don't show advertising, and there's no ad network with visibility into what you're doing.
- No subscription. The tools are fully functional without payment.
- No freemium gating. There's no "upgrade for this feature" model.
- No data sales. The extensions don't have server components to collect data from, and there's nothing to sell even if they wanted to.
Local-only architecture
Every Cool Easy extension stores data in Chrome's local storage — the same mechanism that stores your browser preferences and form data. The data lives on your device. It doesn't sync to a server, it isn't backed up to the cloud, and it doesn't travel anywhere.
This is a design choice, not just a privacy feature. It means simpler code (no backend to maintain), faster performance (no network calls), and a clean separation: the extension is a tool you run locally, not a service you have a relationship with.
What this means for you
The local-only model has one meaningful downside: your data doesn't follow you across devices. If you switch computers, your bookmarks, pins, tasks, and notes don't automatically appear on the new machine. For most people this is an acceptable trade-off for the privacy guarantee; for people who need cross-device sync, it's worth knowing up front.
The model is also transparent about its incentive structure. DayViewer benefits from Cool Easy being high-quality — a poorly built extension that reflects badly on the brand would undermine the whole arrangement. That's a reasonable alignment of interests: the sponsor wants the tools to be good, users want the tools to be good, and the extensions are built accordingly.
The six extensions
All six are free, local-only, and live in Chrome's side panel:
- Easy Todo Note — task list with nested subtasks and countdown timers
- Easy Tab Focus — focused time tracking and soft daily limits per domain
- Toolbelt — image, text, and CSV utilities that run client-side
- Easy Bookmark Manager — search, folders, duplicates, and bulk actions for Chrome bookmarks
- Job Pin Board — local kanban board for tracking job applications
- Browse & Pin Buddy — general-purpose pinboard for research, shopping, and reading lists
Related reading
- Chrome extensions that don't read your page content
- Why every Cool Easy extension lives in the side panel
- Privacy-first Chrome extensions that don't phone home
FAQ
What is DayViewer and what does it have to do with Cool Easy?
DayViewer (dayviewer.com) is a business information and task management platform. Cool Easy is a separate brand of lightweight browser extensions, developed and maintained with DayViewer's backing. The extensions are standalone — you don't need a DayViewer account to use them, and they don't interact with DayViewer's service. DayViewer is listed as a sponsor in some of the extension store listings.
Will the extensions ever become paid or start showing ads?
There are no plans to introduce ads or a paywall. The sponsorship model is designed to be sustainable without that. That said, software changes — if the model ever shifted, it would be announced clearly, and any existing locally-stored data would remain in your browser regardless of what happened to the extensions.
Why build free tools instead of a paid product?
The extensions are genuinely useful things that fit into the browser workflow. Many useful small tools are either overbuilt (full SaaS with accounts and pricing tiers) or monetized in opaque ways. The goal with Cool Easy is to build things that are good and stay out of the way — a side-panel tool that doesn't require a login is a different kind of experience than signing up for another service.
What does "local-only" mean in practice?
It means your data is stored in Chrome's local storage on your device. It doesn't sync across devices, it doesn't back up to a server, and it isn't transmitted anywhere. The extensions don't have server-side components. If you uninstall an extension, the data is removed with it — there's no account to log back into.