AdBlock Review 2026: Is the Premium Version Worth It?

AdBlock Premium blocks more ads than the free version, but at $3.33/mo we wouldn't pay for it. Our last three rounds of testing reached the same conclusion: the free version does most of the same work on more devices.

Free AdBlock managed 77/100 on AdBlock Tester. Enabling every Premium filter list took it to 100/100, and Premium scored 3/3 on Can You Block It. Both versions blocked YouTube video ads, though Premium blocked more ads overall on the pages we tested.

The problem is what you get for the money. Premium only works on desktop Chrome, Firefox, and Edge, while the free version also covers Safari, iOS, and Android. Image Swap hasn't worked in three straight rounds of testing, and the bundled VPN isn't even on the dashboard.

Overview

AdBlock prices and plans

AdBlock can cost $3.33-$4.00/mo for its premium plans, but maintains that you can always use it for free (albeit with limited features and ad blocking capabilities). AdBlock Premium can be installed on unlimited devices. 

AdBlock seemingly has a low starting price for its premium subscription, but it can cost a dollar more per month next to our top recommendations. Here's how AdBlock compares to other ad blockers:

• Total Adblock: Starts at $1.59/mo
• Aura Ad Block and Anti-Track: Starts at $1.67/mo
• Surfshark CleanWeb: Starts at $2.49/mo
• AdBlock: Starts at $3.33/mo

AdBlock offers a 60-day money-back guarantee for Premium plans.

#1 Adblocker — Even Blocks YouTube Video Ads

5.0

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Editorial Rating

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On Total Adblock's website

2026 Editors’ Choice

Best Overall Ad Blocker

Ad Blocker

Total Adblock

PROMOTION: Get 80% Off

• Top ad blocker that historically scores 100/100 on AdBlock Tester, passing every banner, interstitial, pop-up, and contextual ad test
• Successfully blocked YouTube ads in our testing, one of the trickier platforms for ad blockers to handle consistently
• Works across Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Opera, plus Android and iOS mobile apps

Ad blocking strength: 5/5

We test ad blockers by running them through three different testing sites. AdBlock Tester includes a significant amount of code that mimics various intrusive ads to test the ad blocker's ability to block them. Can You Block It performs a series of tests to see how well ad blockers handle ads, such as pop-ups when a site first loads and banner ads.

AdBlock scores

We started with AdBlock's default settings and scored 77/100. Two subtests failed outright, both tied to analytics and error monitoring tools.

Turning on the cookie wall and distraction blocking filters brought us to 83. Getting to a perfect 100 took enabling every remaining filter list, which is buried in the options menu under Filter lists. 

That's worth knowing before you buy. AdBlock doesn't reach its full blocking potential out of the box, and most people won't dig through the settings to find these toggles.

AdBlock Premium also scored 3/3 on Can You Block It, taking down ad blocker detectors, banner ads, and interstitial ads. The interstitial flashed on screen for a split second before disappearing, which happened with both the free and Premium versions.

AdBlock also has whitelisting capabilities, which are fairly straightforward. When you click on the browser extension, you can choose to allow ads on a page or a site.

YouTube ad blocking

YouTube seems to be serving more and more ads, which can really ruin your viewing experience. A good ad blocker extension stops these ads from playing when you access YouTube through your browser.

That's why we always test our ad blockers to see if they can block YouTube ads. Fortunately, AdBlock Premium blocked all YouTube ads during our most recent tests.

We first queued up our video in incognito mode to see the ads.

Then, we swapped to a regular browser with AdBlock Premium enabled. It blocked 32 ads on the page, so we watched the World Cup halftime performance without any ad interruptions or distractions. 

Premium features

AdBlock offers some unique features with its Premium plan. For one, the Distraction Control feature can prevent video ads from following you down the page, block newsletter pop-ups, and eliminate permission requests.

The Cookie Consent Cutter automatically rejects cookie consent banners, which is more useful than you might think. As you browse the web, AdBlock will remove these, so you’ll never need to configure the cookie settings on a website again.

There's also Image Swap, a silly feature that lets you replace ads with images of more pleasant things, such as kittens and dogs. But we visited several websites with various ad types and never saw our sweet cat.

AdBlock VPN

Setting up AdBlock VPN was easy after we received the activation email. We were prompted to install the Windows app. From there, we used our email to sign in and confirm with a code. There were no advanced features to the VPN service.

In fact, the only feature was the ability to connect to either the nearest location or a server of your choice.

AdBlock VPN offers over 100 server locations, up from around 50 when we last checked in September 2025. Close to half are virtual locations, meaning the server isn't physically in the country listed.

In terms of security, AdBlock VPN uses AES-256 encryption and claims to have a "true" no-logs policy. However, AdBlock has no record of a third-party audit to verify this claim. According to the AdBlock privacy policy, the company partners with IPVanish to actually run the VPN service.^[1]

Overall, AdBlock appears to uphold this claim — your web activity isn't logged. But know that two companies are handling your data, AdBlock and IPVanish. Learn more about the latter in our complete IPVanish review.

AdBlock compatibility: 4/5

AdBlock offers broad compatibility with major browsers as well as iOS and Android devices. The free version of the ad blocker works on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, iOS, and Android, while the Premium version only works on desktop versions of Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.

AdBlock customer support: 4/5

If you have any issues with AdBlock, you can submit a ticket to support. There's no live chat or support number you can call.

To troubleshoot on your own, you can visit the AdBlock Help Center. There are articles on troubleshooting, AdBlock Premium, more about the developers, and payment issues.

AdBlock user reviews

• Apple App Store rating: 4.2/5
• Google Play Store rating: 3.4/5
• Trustpilot rating: 1.9/5

AdBlock's Android app has middling reviews, with many reviewers mentioning that ads still appear frequently and it often stops working. On the other hand, AdBlock has jumped from 3.2 to a 4.2 on the Apple App Store, although most of the featured reviews are still from several years ago. 

AdBlock has significantly lower ratings on Trustpilot, with 58% of reviewers giving the service one star. These reviews mention that the service doesn't work and that it's difficult to cancel or get a refund. One reviewer even warns that AdBlock breaks checkout pages when content filtering tools should never disrupt payment gateways.

Trustpilot reviews skew toward billing and cancellation complaints rather than blocking performance, which is what we test. AdBlock worked in our hands-on testing, but the refund complaints are worth knowing about before you subscribe.

How to use AdBlock Premium

Installing AdBlock was easy, and we had it up and running almost instantly. We tested AdBlock Premium on Google Chrome.

We selected the "options" cog from the AdBlock widget to access the dashboard. From there, we scrolled down to Premium to check out the paid features.

Note that the AdBlock VPN is not featured on the dashboard. We navigated through the Help Desk, but later found an email with a link to download the VPN app for Windows.

Top alternatives

We know that software is personal, so if AdBlock isn't for you, we have a roundup of the best ad blockers on the market. Some cost less, some cover more devices, and some throw in extras AdBlock doesn't offer.

	Total Adblock	Aura Ad Block and Anti-Track	Surfshark CleanWeb
Best for	Best for blocking YouTube ads	Best for identity protection	Best for unlimited devices
Lowest starting price	$1.59/mo	$1.67/mo	$2.49/mo
Adblock Tester score	100/100	100/100	96/100
Can You Block It score	3/3	2.5/3	3/3
Blocks YouTube ads?
Compatibility	Android, iOS, Chrome, Edge, Safari	Chrome, Edge, Safari	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Fire TV
Learn more	Get Total Adblock	Get Aura Ad Blocker	Get Surfshark CleanWeb

AdBlock vs. Total Adblock

Total Adblock beats AdBlock on value and reach. It starts at $1.59/mo (versus AdBlock Premium's $3.33/mo) and includes TotalAV antivirus with real-time phishing protection, something AdBlock Premium doesn't offer. Total Adblock also works on Safari, iOS, and Android at the premium tier, while AdBlock Premium drops down to just desktop Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. 

Both hit 100/100 on AdBlock Tester once fully configured and 3/3 on Can You Block It. Learn more in our Total Adblock review. 

PROMOTION: Get 80% Off

5.0

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

2026 Editors’ Choice

Best Overall Ad Blocker

Ad Blocker

Total Adblock

• Top ad blocker that historically scores 100/100 on AdBlock Tester, passing every banner, interstitial, pop-up, and contextual ad test
• Successfully blocked YouTube ads in our testing, one of the trickier platforms for ad blockers to handle consistently
• Works across Chrome, Edge, Safari, and Opera, plus Android and iOS mobile apps

Learn More

Get Deal

AdBlock vs. Aura Ad Block and Anti-Track

Aura's ad blocker now edges out AdBlock on raw test scores, hitting 100/100 on AdBlock Tester in its most recent testing, up from 89/100 as recently as November 2025. Aura starts at $1.67/mo, cheaper than AdBlock Premium's $3.33/mo. 

Aura is more limited on compatibility, though, working only on Chrome, Safari, and Edge with no Firefox or Android support. It's also sold only as part of the broader Aura security suite rather than as a standalone product like AdBlock. Learn more in our Aura Ad Block and Anti-Track review. 

PROMOTION: Save 71% Today

5.0

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

2026 Editors’ Choice

Best Ad Blocker for Online Security

Ad Blocker

Aura Ad Blocker

• Ad blocker that scored 100/100 on AdBlock Tester, blocking banner ads, pop-ups, and trackers
• Part of the Aura security suite, which also includes antivirus, a VPN, a password manager, and Safe Browsing tools
• Comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee, which is twice as long as most competitors offer

Learn More

Get Deal

AdBlock vs. Surfshark CleanWeb

Surfshark CleanWeb comes as part of a full Surfshark subscription, adding a VPN, phishing protection, and alternative ID features that AdBlock doesn't touch. CleanWeb scored 96/100 on AdBlock Tester (slightly behind AdBlock Premium's 100/100 once fully configured) but matched AdBlock's 3/3 on Can You Block It. 

The tradeoff: CleanWeb's basic in-app version only blocks malicious ads and needs an active VPN connection, and full ad and YouTube blocking requires its separate CleanWeb 2.0 browser extension, similar in spirit to AdBlock needing manual filter setup to hit full strength.

Learn more in our Surfshark CleanWeb review. 

PROMOTION: From $2.49/mo + 3 Months EXTRA

4.8

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

2026 Editors’ Choice

Best Value Ad Blocker

Ad Blocker

Surfshark CleanWeb Ad Blocking

• Ad blocker that blocks banner ads, pop-ups, and video ads across your browser, mobile apps, and Fire TV
• Scored 96/100 on AdBlock Tester and passed all three Can You Block It tests
• Comes bundled with Surfshark VPN, which encrypts your connection, hides your IP, and blocks phishing sites

Learn More

Get Deal

Bottom line: Is AdBlock good?

AdBlock Free is a solid ad blocker, and Premium blocks more, but we don't think Premium earns its price. It costs more than Total Adblock, Aura Ad Block and Anti-Track, and Surfshark CleanWeb, all of which we rate higher, and it drops the Safari, iOS, and Android support you get with AdBlock's own free version.

If you want to pay for an ad blocker, Total Adblock is the better buy at $1.59/mo and it includes TotalAV. If you'd rather not pay, stick with AdBlock Free.

Star rating summary

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FAQs

4.6

AllAboutCookies writers and editors score products based on a number of objective features as well as our expert editorial assessment. Our partners do not influence how we rate products.

Editorial Rating

Learn More

On AdBlock's website

Ad Blocker

AdBlock

• Aced ad-blocking tests with Premium Filters on
• Lets you whitelist individual pages or entire sites
• Unlimited devices on Premium plans

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary James is a cybersecurity writer and hands-on product tester at All About Cookies, specializing in VPNs, antivirus software, password managers, and ad blockers. She has written over 340 articles and has personally tested more than 75 products. Before writing about consumer security, she worked at PC Matic, a U.S. antivirus company, giving her firsthand insight into how security software is built, marketed, and tested. Her work has been featured in MSN and CNBC.