AdClear Review 2025: Is This Ad Blocker Too Limited?

AdClear is a niche but effective ad blocker exclusive to Android users on the Samsung Internet or Yandex browsers. There isn't much to the blocker once you toggle it on in your browser settings, so its best if you want to enable and forget about your ad blocker. 

There isn't much to the dashboard, so you won't find detail blocking statistics or custom features. However, this does mean that you don't have as much control over your internet experience. 

For the ultimate browsing experience, we recommend top-tier ad blockers with broader device compatibility. If you are intrigued, we'll detail our experience testing AdClear. 

Overview

Ads blocked on Forbes	23
AdBlock Tester score	77/100
Cover Your Tracks score	1/3
Can You Block It score	2.5/3
Does it block YouTube ads?	No
Whitelisting available	No
Blacklisting available	No
Compatibility	Samsung Internet, Yandex
Paid version	N/A
Learn more	Get AdClear

We last tested AdClear on May 13, 2025.

Our experience

The AdClear app was easy to use, but there were some bumps along the way. After installing AdClear, we were prompted to download either Samsung Internet or Yandex browsers. AdClear doesn't work with other browsers like Chrome, so it was an extra step to download a compatible browser.

AdClear previously didn't provide any tutorial on how to enable it in the browser settings, but this time it provided us with a button that opened the exact settings page we needed. 

After the installation process was over, AdClear was extremely easy to use. AdClear doesn't have any custom filter options, so you can just set it and forget it. 

We do wish AdClear had a blocker counter to have a better idea of how well it works. Samsung Internet does list how many ads were blocked in a given day and how many were blocked on the previous site we visited, but there's not much clarity beyond that. 

AdClear blocked several ads during our testing and didn't slow down our internet speeds. It even worked on YouTube during our latest round of testing, but only in the Samsung browser of course. 

Main features

AdClear is easy to use partially because there aren't many features. There isn't any whitelisting or blacklisting functionality, but AdClear does have some limited ad-blocking filters.

AdClear automatically enables two types of filters. The first is the Default List, which has the essential ad-blocking rules. The second type is the Mobile Ads Filter. Its function is to block ads on mobile devices.

Additional filters are based on language. Many people consume content in more than one language, which means you could receive ads in multiple languages. Enabling a language filter can help block ads in different languages. 

You can choose ad-blocking filters for a variety of languages, including:

• Chinese
• Dutch
• Finnish
• French
• German
• Korean
• Russian
• Spanish
• Turkish
• Ukrainian

AdClear’s test results

We tested if AdClear works at blocking ads and trackers. Overall, AdClear gave mixed results.

AdClear scores

	AdBlock Tester	Cover Your Tracks	Can You Block It?
AdClear score	77/100	1/3	2.5/3

We conducted the first test with AdBlock Tester, which evaluated AdClear's ability to block intrusive ads and analytical tools. AdClear successfully blocked most ads, including contextual and banner ads. It didn't do so well to block sites from gathering data about our online behavior.

So far, AdClear hasn't done a great job blocking ad trackers from collecting data from users. We also tested AdClear with Cover Your Tracks to determine if it blocked trackers. The test results showed that AdClear only provided partial protection against trackers, so you won't get much extra privacy from using it. 

Other free ad-blocking extensions do a much better job of blocking annoying ads and ad trackers, like Total Adblock and AdLock.

Finally, we used the Can You Block It test to see if AdClear could block interstitial ads and banner ads as well as disable ad-block warnings. AdClear successfully blocked all three ad types, which led to a smoother online experience. 

The only downside was that the interstitial ads still showed up, just as a blank box.

YouTube ad test

We tested AdClear to see if it can block YouTube ads. Unfortunately, any video that had an ad would just show a black screen for several seconds before starting. 

On the one hand, At that point, we'd rather just watch an ad than sit there staring at our own face in silence.

While this does technically block ads, it doesn't save you any time which is the main thing ads on YouTube wastes. We consider this a fail.

Bypassing paywall test

Paywalls block you from viewing content unless you have a subscription. We tested AdClear by browsing the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and The Atlantic to see if it would bypass the paywalls.

Unsurprisingly, AdClear didn't work, and we were met with a paywall if we wanted to read articles. Most content blocking apps can’t bypass paywalls without a VPN, but it’s worth a try, right?

What browsers and software is AdClear compatible with?

AdClear only works on Android devices using Samsung Internet and Yandex. It's extremely limited since it doesn't work with popular browsers like Chrome or Firefox.

However, it does work pretty well at blocking ads. If you're not in love with your mobile browser, it could be worth breaking up with it and moving to Samsung Internet or Yandex. This would enable you to use AdClear.

How to use AdClear

• Install the AdClear app.
• Accept the terms and conditions.
• Install the Samsung Internet or Yandex browser if you haven't yet.
• Go to the browser's settings to enable AdClear. On Samsung Internet, click the three horizontal lines on the bottom right. Then select Ad blockers from the menu. Enable AdClear from the list of ad blockers.
• Customize settings in the AdClear app. You can choose to disable default filters or enable language-based ad-blocking filters.
• You're all done! You can surf the Samsung Internet or Yandex browser without ads.

Top alternatives

AdClear may not be the best fit for everyone, especially due to its limited compatibility. Luckily, there are many other ad blockers on the market that could be the right fit for you. Based on our extensive testing, we recommend the following alternatives.

The Total Adblock browser extension has a perfect score for blocking ads. It's also the most affordable option and is compatible with most popular browsers. Plus, the premium plan includes the award-winning antivirus software, TotalAV.

If you want ad-blocking protection bundled with advanced security features, consider using NordVPN Threat Protection or Surfshark CleanWeb. In addition to blocking ads, trackers, and even malware infected ads, both services include a secure virtual private network (VPN) to help you browse anonymously.

FAQs

Bottom line: Is AdClear good?

Overall, AdClear works for Android users who don't want to put too much effort into blocking ads and trackers. It’s easy to use, and you can basically forget about it once it's set up. Plus, AdClear is a great choice for people who know multiple languages and can use the language filters to block ads in their respective languages.

Even though it’s a decent free ad blocker, AdClear doesn't provide much customization to filter specific websites, and it has very limited compatibility. It also only works on Android using the Samsung Internet or Yandex browser.

If AdClear doesn't meet your needs, there are plenty of other top-tested ad blockers with broad device and browser compatibility. Some of the best ad blockers include Total Adblock, NordVPN Threat Protection, and Surfshark CleanWeb.