Turn Off the Lights
Turn Off the Lights is a free, open-source browser extension providing universal dark mode and cinematic video dimming for consumers across 18+ browsers, maintained as a solo-developer sole proprietorship since 2009 with 2.2M+ users across 180+ countries and voluntary donations as the sole revenue stream.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersAntwerp, Belgium
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Turn Off the Lights does
Turn Off the Lights is a free, open-source browser extension founded in 2009 by Stefan Van Damme and operated as a sole proprietorship out of Antwerp, Belgium. The product provides universal dark-mode styling and a one-click cinematic dimmer that highlights HTML5 video players across 100+ platforms including YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, Hulu, and YouKu, while darkening surrounding page elements. Underlying technology includes smart stylesheet injection that preserves video colors, an Atmosphere Lighting module that analyzes video frames at 60 fps to generate real-time color-matched ambient effects, an Eye Protection mode that reduces blue-light output by ~65%, and a Night Mode that applies configurable dark themes across more than 10,000 websites. The full package ships in under 8.5 MB and activates in under 0.1 seconds.
The extension is distributed across 18+ browser stores (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, Yandex, Maxthon, Naver Whale, Samsung Internet, and others), with complementary Desktop and Mobile sub-products. Go-to-market is purely product-led and self-serve: users discover and install via browser stores, SEO-optimized dark-mode landing pages, and earned media, with no sales motion, no paid advertising, and no paid tiers. The codebase is public on GitHub under GPLv2, supported by a 54-language community of volunteer translators, and has earned Chrome Editor's Choice 2024, Mozilla Recommended, Apple Standout, and Microsoft Edge Featured designations.
The business model is donation-only: there are no subscriptions, no in-app purchases, no advertising injection, and no data monetization. Voluntary contributions are accepted via PayPal and AliPay (suggested donation $9.99) to cover development, servers, domains, and security. The user base exceeds 2.2 million across 180+ countries with a 4.6/5 Chrome Web Store rating from 33,600+ reviews, but no enterprise customers or B2B revenue stream exists. The project has been continuously maintained for 15+ years with monthly updates by the solo founder, with no external funding, no headcount growth, and no subsidiaries.
Turn Off the Lights firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Turn Off the Lights
- Legal name
- Turn Off the Lights
- Website
- https://turnoffthelights.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Turn Off the Lights is a free, open-source browser extension providing universal dark mode and cinematic video dimming for consumers across 18+ browsers, maintained as a solo-developer sole proprietorship since 2009 with 2.2M+ users across 180+ countries and voluntary donations as the sole revenue stream.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Turn Off the Lights industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Browser Extension
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Rendering, Graphics & Simulation Middleware (MPAFAFAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Creator Tools & Production (Overlays, Alerts, Encoding, Editing, Audio) (MPAFAEAC)
Keywords
Where Turn Off the Lights is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Antwerp
- HQ country
- Belgium
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Turn Off the Lights business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Donations / Voluntary Contributions: Turn Off the Lights is entirely free and open-source. The project accepts voluntary donations via PayPal and AliPay to support ongoing development, servers, domains, and security costs. No in-app purchases, subscriptions, or paid tiers exist. The extension does not display advertisements and does not inject ads on any websites.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free browser extension — all features included |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels8 records
Marketing channels7 records
Turn Off the Lights product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Turn Off the Lights builds and distributes a free, open-source cross-browser extension that enables universal dark mode on every website and provides a one-click cinematic dimmer for HTML5 video players. The product applies a customizable dark overlay (80% opacity by default) that activates in under 0.1 seconds and automatically detects video players across 100+ platforms including YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, and Hulu. Companion desktop and mobile applications extend the dimming concept outside the browser.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Night Mode: Universal dark theme feature that converts white CSS backgrounds to black, supporting over 10,000 popular websites.
- Atmosphere Lighting
- Turn Off the Lights Browser Extension
- Turn Off the Lights Desktop
- Turn Off the Lights Mobile
Products and services
- Turn Off the Lights Browser Extension Free, open-source (GPLv2) cross-browser extension that applies a one-click cinematic dark overlay to web pages (Cinema Mode at 80% opacity default), universal dark theme across 10,000+ websites (Night Mode), and real-time color-matched light effects around HTML5 video players (Atmosphere Lighting at 60fps). Supports 18+ browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Brave, Vivaldi, Samsung Internet, and Naver Whale. Designed for individual end users who want a distraction-free, eye-friendly video viewing and web browsing experience.
- Turn Off the Lights Desktop Companion desktop application that dims the entire desktop screen, extending Turn Off the Lights' dimming concept beyond the browser to the full operating system environment for individual users seeking a cinematic viewing experience in any application.
- Turn Off the Lights Mobile Companion mobile application for iOS and Android devices that brings the Turn Off the Lights dimming and dark-mode functionality to mobile screens for individual users browsing or watching video on smartphones and tablets.
Quantifiable outcome
- 2.2M+ users trust the extension across 180+ countries
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Turn Off the Lights
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Turn Off the Lights technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature10 records
Turn Off the Lights partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators9 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Turn Off the Lights competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- 1Password / LastPass (extension use case adjacency): Adjacent in the sense that both are consumer browser-extension leaders with strong install bases. While not a direct competitor for dark mode, it is a useful reference point for browser-extension distribution scale, monetization models (freemium), and platform policy exposure (Manifest V3).
- Stylus (stylus extension): Stylus is a userstyles.org browser extension that lets users install custom CSS themes for sites, including dark themes. While not a direct competitor, it represents the do-it-yourself alternative for users who would otherwise rely on Turn Off the Lights' universal dark mode.
Emerging players
- Super Dark Mode: Super Dark Mode is a free open-source browser extension providing a single-click dark mode toggle. It overlaps with Turn Off the Lights' Night Mode but is feature-thin in comparison; useful as a reference point for commoditization risk in the dark-mode extension category.
- Midnight Lizard: Midnight Lizard is a customizable dark-mode browser extension allowing users to adjust saturation, brightness, and contrast on any site. It competes in the same customizable-darker-web category as Turn Off the Lights' Night Mode, with a more developer-oriented customization emphasis.
- Noir (dark mode): Noir is a paid SaaS dark-mode extension that auto-generates dark themes via server-side rendering. It overlaps with Turn Off the Lights' Night Mode but uses a different technical architecture (cloud-based theme generation rather than client-side CSS injection).
- Enhancer for YouTube: Enhancer for YouTube is a YouTube-specific browser extension offering video controls, playback speed, and ad-blocking. Turn Off the Lights explicitly benchmarks itself against it in SEO comparison pages, indicating overlapping audience for YouTube power users.
Direct peers
- Night Eye: Night Eye is a freemium dark-mode browser extension with a paid premium tier, offering universal dark themes, custom color controls, and per-site scheduling. It overlaps with Turn Off the Lights' Night Mode and represents the same product category with a paid-monetization model.
- Dark Reader: Dark Reader is the most direct competitor — an open-source browser extension that provides universal dark mode and brightness/inversion controls across websites. Both products target the same user pain (eye strain from bright pages), follow a free/open-source distribution model, and compete head-to-head on browser extension storefronts.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Turn Off the Lights social profiles
Digital presenceTurn Off the Lights financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Turn Off the Lights leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Turn Off the Lights funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Turn Off the Lights M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Turn Off the Lights
What does Turn Off the Lights do?
Turn Off the Lights builds and distributes a free, open-source cross-browser extension that enables universal dark mode on every website and provides a one-click cinematic dimmer for HTML5 video players. The product applies a customizable dark overlay (80% opacity by default) that activates in under 0.1 seconds and automatically detects video players across 100+ platforms including YouTube, Vimeo, Netflix, and Hulu. Companion desktop and mobile applications extend the dimming concept outside the browser.
Is Turn Off the Lights a public or private company?
Turn Off the Lights is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Turn Off the Lights founded?
Turn Off the Lights was founded in 2009. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Turn Off the Lights based?
Turn Off the Lights is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, in the Europe region.
How does Turn Off the Lights make money?
One revenue line is on record: donations / Voluntary Contributions.
Who are Turn Off the Lights's main competitors?
Others on record are 1Password / LastPass (extension use case adjacency) and Stylus (stylus extension). Emerging players are Super Dark Mode, Midnight Lizard, Noir (dark mode) and Enhancer for YouTube. Direct peers are Night Eye and Dark Reader.
Does Turn Off the Lights have an API?
No public API is recorded for Turn Off the Lights.
What industry is Turn Off the Lights in?
Turn Off the Lights's product category is Browser Extension. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAFAFAB, Rendering, Graphics & Simulation Middleware, with a secondary code of MPAFAEAC, Creator Tools & Production (Overlays, Alerts, Encoding, Editing, Audio). Its SIC code is 7371.