Are there any addons as essential as uBlockOrigin?

Consent-o-matic. Auto decline gpdr popups.
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/consent-o-matic/

If you spend any time on YouTube sponsor block is handy

Since it hasn't been mentioned - containers.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/

Essentially lets you keep have browser tabs with entirely separate cookies from each other (like if you opened it in a different browser). Helps me keep work and personal accounts apart, and also sandbox evil^tm webpages I'm forced to visit (by giving them their own container).

I almost forget it isn't included in firefox by default.

Dark reader. Dont wanna burn my eyes

If you use YouTube...

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-GB/android/addon/sponsorblock/

Invaluable add-on IMO.

ClearURLs is nice, it makes links a lot shorter and removes all the tracking junk from it. I also can't live without SponsorBlock and Return YouTube Dislike

As important? No.

But I also couldn't cope without my AutoplayStopper. I hate autoplaying content so much, especially on news sites.

If you wanna go full degen then "Bypass Paywalls Clean" bypasses Paywalls on the websites with articles. Also "Old Reddit Redirect" is a must if you occasionally open page because it removes this stupid mobile app popup and goes around NSFW login requirement

Sponsorblock for YouTube

Decentraleyes prevents loading common scripts from big name CDNs. Requesting a script from a google-owned CDN with your google cookies and the current URL as the referrer is a way to spy on you.

Decentraleyes loads these common scripts from it's own cache instead.

LibRedirect is pretty great. Everything from reddiot, fandom, youtube, imgur, google maps... (it's a long list)

has open source or alternatives that you get sent to instead of the big corpo tracking site. I love the fandom, reddit, and youtube redirects, because so many times I end up being linked to those. You can also turn off the redirect per site if you want, so if an invidious link (for example) just refuses to load, you can let youtube track you and see the video.

The second addon I install on new device: CookieAutoDelete https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookie-autodelete/

It delete cookie. And you just clic and add exception for the website you want to stay loged in

I still don't care about cookies, Simple translate and Hoverzoom+. Sidebery is great too if you want a custom Firefox. Honorable mentioned, YouTube repeat button.

I still like my NoScript, sometimes I just take it as an indicator of who makes shitty sites.
If I end up on a site that's completely blank and it isn't important for me to interact with it, Ieave.
Surprisingly even news sites often load better than most others with NoScript disabling everything on them, I guess at the end of the day they still really need people to read them otherwise they'd become completely irrelevant?

I've seen complaints (Reddit I think?)that it just makes it cumbersome to do stuff when there are cascading lists of domain opening as you enable one, but if you're the kind of person that permanently whitelists all of them at that point, I don't think any amount of add-ons are going to save you, but I do like puzzles so I don't mind figuring out what needs to be toggled for site to work.

The big downside is making payments on sites with silly amounts of 3rd parties involved (Im looking at you Costco), but it's a bit better than it used to be when there was concern about getting charged twice, now it's more like...don't get charged and wonder why they didn't process your payment.

Edit: is it NoScript or ublockorigin that blocks ads on prime video? It's one or the other which is nice if you're watching something on pc rather than TV, I guess I should test.

Privacy Badger, comes from the EFF.

OneTab is pretty great for tab addicts

Bitwarden

SingleFile is very good for saving full pages with all their content as, well, a single html file.

next to ublock i also use Decentraleyes
(further protection aganst tracking,
probably a bit less mobile usage,
and otherwise 0 impact)

video background play fix
(prevents youtube from stopping if my smartphone is locked)

ublacklist
(prevents sites you hate from appearing in your google search results (mostly fandom.com for me))

I'm a huge fan of AdNauseam, and TrackMeNot.

I would yet like to find a good addon to block cookie banners reliably, and autoselect the most restrictive options

I don't think so

Surprised nobody already suggested some kind of mouse gestures extension. I use foxy gestures and once you learn a few gestures (starting with closing a tab and undoing it) it becomes hard to live without it! Gesturefy is also a popular alternative.

While we're on the subject, does anyone know of a way to block those scroll triggered pop-ups that are everywhere these days? You know the ones, you get a little bit down a page, then:

SIGN UP FOR 10 PERCENT OFF

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST TO FOLLOW US ON OUR JOURNEY

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Behind the Overlay.

I still don't care about cookies

I don't want to say its name, cause I worry (maybe unnecessarily) about making it a target, but there's a downloader for YouTube that's the only extension I've ever paid for.

I have compiled the best recommendations in a list: https://lemmy.world/post/14173277

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/swift-selection-search/

"Swiftly access your search engines in a popup panel when you select text in a webpage."

uBlacklist is great for hiding horrid search results.

Tab Center Reborn (and some css to hide the top tab bar) for sidebar tabs.