Dark Patterns Detector
Online retailers use the same tricks. This extension knows all of them.
The tricks are everywhere once you can see them
Dark patterns are interface design choices that steer users toward outcomes that benefit the company at the user's expense. A Princeton University study that crawled over 11,000 e-commerce sites found them embedded across product pages, checkout flows, and subscription cancellation paths.
The most common: fake scarcity ("Only 2 left!"), artificial urgency (countdown timers that reset), pre-ticked opt-in boxes, hidden fees added at checkout, and confirm-shaming buttons ("No thanks, I don't want to save money").
None of these are subtle when you know what you're looking for. The problem is that most people don't know what they're looking for.
Step by step
- Install the extension in Chrome.
- Browse any e-commerce or subscription site normally.
- The extension runs pattern matching against the page DOM on every load.
- Detected patterns are flagged with a subtle indicator — what type of manipulation was found and where on the page.
- Countdown timers are checked for reset loops. Scarcity messages are flagged if they lack live inventory data. Hidden fee structures are identified at checkout.
Online shoppers
Anyone who buys things online and wants to see the manipulation layer before it affects their decisions.
Developers building consumer tools
Full source code with the pattern detection library, DOM scanner, and classification logic for 12 dark pattern types.
- Full Chrome extension source code (Manifest V3)
- 12 dark pattern classifiers
- Urgency timer loop detector
- Fake scarcity flag
- Hidden fee detection at checkout
- Vanilla JavaScript, no dependencies
See what the site doesn't want you to notice.
The tricks only work if you don't know they're there.
Get the source code ($19) →One-time payment · No account required · Instant download