What features does Firebug have that Chrome's Developer Tools do not have?

I used Firebug from the start and it was a godsend like the invention of fire. But then Chrome came out with its debugger and I tried it. I kept using Firebug, but kept an eye on Chome's dev tools and finally could not longer come up with a reason not to switch after JSON tools were added in v12.

Chrome's DevTools kick butt because it has:

  • Built in Timeline, Profiler and Heap analyzer
  • Built in Audit tool
  • Can access and edit Local/SessionStorage, Cookies, SqlLite DB's, WebSQL, AppCache etc...
  • WebSockets network sniffing
  • JS debugger has some more features (e.g. WebWorker breakpoints)
  • JS debugger let's you edit JS on the fly and run it (JSFiddle w/o the fiddle)
  • Each window gets a devtools window if you like; Firebug is a singleton
  • Firebug perturbs the page by slowing its loading down and by injecting CSS for its inspector feature

UPDATE: 2 years later I have to congratulate the Firefox team for making huge inroads. That said, the Chrome team and debugger make huge leaps forward on a monthly basis, leading the industry. I'd update the above list, but frankly it would fill the entire page.


I haven't run into a Firebug feature I've missed yet after switching to Chrome.


The Chrome Developer Tools took over the features of Firebug, so all the main features and familiarity are there (such as the $0, and console object).

There are some small differences, such as the DevTools do not have a CSS panel (although CSS stylesheets can be manipulated in the Elements panel).

The Chrome tools additionally have the Timeline, Profiles and Storage panels. The Timeline panel logs loading, CSS rendering, and JavaScript parsing. The Profile panel profiles resource usage and the Storage panel shows and allows changes in the site's database, local storage, session storage, and cookies.

Finally, both tools have their own minor variances, which make various actions a tiny bit easier or harder. My advice is to use Firebug for Firefox, and DevTools for Webkit browsers, since only Firebug Lite works on Chrome, and it lacks many features the normal Firebug has (and the DevTools are built into Chrome).