A Year to Remember
Eight months ago, Read Frog was just an idea. Today, we're celebrating 20,000 weekly active users, 3,000+ GitHub stars, 20+ contributors, and a community that believes in making language learning accessible to everyone.
This is our story.
The Beginning: April 16, 2025
On April 16, 2025 at 4:32 PM (Vancouver time), the first commit was pushed to mengxi-ream/read-frog. No fancy launch. No marketing budget. Just a simple goal:
Our Mission: Make language learning effortless by bringing AI-powered translation directly into your browser - while you read, where you read.
Why? Because we noticed a gap in the market:
- Traditional translation tools break your reading flow
- Most AI tools require copy-pasting text back and forth
- Existing browser extensions were closed-source, privacy-invasive, or expensive
We decided to build something different: open source, privacy-first, and community-driven.
Growing Together: The Numbers
In just 8 months, our community has grown beyond anything we imagined:
User Growth
| Platform | Weekly Active Users |
|---|---|
| Chrome | 17,000+ |
| Edge | 2,800+ |
| Total | 20,000+ |
Open Source Community
| Milestone | Achievement |
|---|---|
| GitHub Stars | 3,100+ |
| Forks | 187+ |
| Contributors | 23+ |
| Releases | 30+ |
| AI Providers | 20+ supported |
But numbers only tell part of the story. What truly matters is who made this happen.
Our Contributors: The Heart of Read Frog
Read Frog is 100% community-built. Every feature, every bug fix, every translation - contributed by people who care.
Core Contributors
| Contributor | Contributions | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| @mengxi-ream | 145+ | Project founder, core architecture |
| @ananaBMaster | 97+ | Custom CSS styles, model updates, UI upgrades |
| @Yukiniro | 23+ | Google Drive sync, batch queue optimization |
| @taiiiyang | 22+ | YouTube subtitles, statistics page |
| @sedationh | 10+ | Core features development |
| @darmau | 4+ | RTL language support, font rendering |
Community Contributors
Special thanks to everyone who contributed code, reported issues, or helped translate:
@jasperyou, @guoyongchang, @lisongkun, @iuhoay, @mercutiojohn, @AnotiaWang, @Rafacv23, @TudorGR, and many more!
Want to join us? Check out our Contribution Guide. Whether you code, design, write docs, or translate - there's a place for you.
2025 Feature Highlights
This year, we shipped 30+ releases packed with features. Here are the highlights:
AI-Powered Translation
20+ AI Providers - From OpenAI to DeepSeek, Claude to Gemini, Ollama to Groq. Use any provider you want. Your API key, your choice.
Context-Aware Translation - AI that actually understands what you're reading. Technical docs get technical translations. Literature keeps its nuance.
Custom Prompts - Build your own translation prompts with tokens like [TARGET_LANG], [INPUT], [TITLE]. Your prompts, your rules.
Batch Translation
Save 60-80% on API costs by grouping multiple paragraphs into single API calls.
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| 20 paragraphs = 20 API calls | 20 paragraphs = 3-4 calls |
| Hit rate limits constantly | Stay within limits easily |
| $10/month | $2-4/month |
YouTube Subtitles (v1.21.0)
Watch foreign videos with real-time subtitle translation. Learning Japanese from anime? Studying Spanish from vlogs? Now you can.
Google Drive Sync (v1.20.0)
Your settings, everywhere. Sync your configuration across devices with Google Drive. Switch computers without losing your setup.
Custom CSS Styles (v1.16.0)
Make translations look exactly how you want. Custom colors, fonts, positioning. Some users even built dark-mode-friendly translation themes!
Smart Context Translation (v1.18.0)
Read Frog now extracts article titles and summaries to give AI full context. Result? Translations that actually make sense in context.
Selection Toolbar Improvements
- Auto-positioning - Toolbar stays in viewport
- Site-specific settings - Disable for specific sites
- TTS integration - Listen to any selected text
More Features Shipped
- Right-click translate (v1.19.0) - Translate from browser context menu
- MiniMax AI support (v1.21.0) - Another provider option
- Temperature configuration (v1.21.0) - Fine-tune your translations
- Config backup/restore (v1.14.0) - Never lose your settings
- RTL language support - Arabic, Hebrew, and more
- Statistics page - Track your translation usage
The Road Ahead: 2026 and Beyond
We're just getting started. Here's what's coming:
| Focus Area | What to Expect |
|---|---|
| PDF Translation | Translate PDF documents directly in browser |
| Image/Comic Translation | OCR-powered translation for images and manga |
| Video Translation | Full YouTube integration, more platforms |
| Input Translation | Translate text as you type in input fields |
| AI Summary | AI-powered webpage summarization |
| Firefox Support | Bringing Read Frog to Firefox users |
| Mobile Support | Safari extension for iOS |
| Vocabulary Book | Save and review words you've learned |
Shape our roadmap! Join our Discord to vote on features and share ideas.
Thank You
To our 20,000+ weekly active users: You trusted us to be part of your language learning journey.
To our 3,100+ stargazers: You gave us the motivation to keep building.
To our 23+ contributors: You made Read Frog what it is.
And to everyone who reported a bug, suggested a feature, or just said "thank you" - this is for you.
Try Read Frog Today
If you haven't already, give Read Frog a try:
| Browser | Install |
|---|---|
| Chrome | Chrome Web Store |
| Edge | Microsoft Edge Addons |
Current Version: 1.21.0
Here's to another year of learning, building, and growing together.
Happy holidays, and happy translating!
- The Read Frog Team
Written by
Read Frog Team
At
Thu Dec 25 2025
Extension Version
1.21.0