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Seamlessly blocks banner ads, pop-ups, trackers, malicious sites, and phishing attempts
Base plans include antivirus software, a password manager, a VPN, and Safe Browsing tools
All About Cookies is an independent, advertising-supported website. Some of the offers that appear on this site are from third-party advertisers from which All About Cookies receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear).
All About Cookies does not include all financial or credit offers that might be available to consumers nor do we include all companies or all available products. Information is accurate as of the publishing date and has not been provided or endorsed by the advertiser.
The All About Cookies editorial team strives to provide accurate, in-depth information and reviews to help you, our reader, make online privacy decisions with confidence. Here's what you can expect from us:
If you're looking for an ad blocker that does more than just hide banner ads, Aura Ad Blocker may be the solution for you. As part of its broader digital security suite, Aura’s ad blocker claims to reduce distractions, stop trackers, and help keep your browsing private.
But how well does it really work?
We tested Aura’s ad blocker on a Windows PC to see what it blocks, where it falls short, and how it compares to standalone tools. Here's what we found, and what you need to know before signing up.
| Ads blocked on Forbes | 142 |
| AdBlock Tester score | 92/100 |
| Cover Your Tracks score | 2/3 |
| Can You Block It score | 3/3 |
| Does it block YouTube ads? | Yes, mostly |
| Whitelisting available | No |
| Blacklisting available | No |
| Compatibility | Chrome, Edge, Safari |
| Paid version | $19.99/first yr |
| Learn more | Get Aura Ad Blocker |
Each ad blocker we review goes through a standardized test designed to push the limits of what the software is capable of. This includes vigorous third-party testing using websites like adblock-tester.com, coveryourtracks.eff.org, and canyoublockit.com. We also visit popular websites to test the ad blocker’s day-to-day capabilities, including watching YouTube videos and browsing Forbes.
Once we’ve completed the testing, we calculate our editorial rating by taking into account key features you’d expect from a good product. We score each ad blocker in the following categories and use a weighted average to calculate the final rating out of 5 stars: price, test scores, features, browser support, and editorial score.
To learn more about how we test, read our full ad blocker methodology here.
We last tested Aura Ad Blocker on July 27, 2025.
Seamlessly blocks banner ads, pop-ups, trackers, malicious sites, and phishing attempts
Base plans include antivirus software, a password manager, a VPN, and Safe Browsing tools
Installation was easy and took just a few clicks through the Aura dashboard. The ad block and anti-track extension activated automatically without requiring any browser restarts.
Once enabled, Aura quietly filtered out a variety of ad types, including banner and sidebar ads, as well as autoplay video ads. Navigation on ad-heavy sites like Forbes and The New York Times became much smoother, pages loaded faster, and visual clutter dropped significantly. We didn't encounter any functionality issues on popular websites, although video carousels on some news pages took longer to populate.
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We found that while Aura Ad Block blocked YouTube ads from autoplaying, they were still visible on the screen, and we had the option to either wait or click “skip.”
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We also appreciated that the extension didn’t break pages the way some more aggressive blockers can.
The biggest drawback we noticed was the lack of user control, and there is no way to whitelist a specific site or toggle advanced filter settings. If you’re looking for customization, Aura may feel a bit too locked down.
Aura Ad Blocker is part of a larger subscription plan that starts at $19.99/first yr (renews at $69.99/yr) for individuals. There’s no standalone pricing for the ad blocker alone.
| Aura Ad Blocker | |
| Price | $19.99/first yr (renews at $69.99/yr) |
| Blocks unlimited ads | |
| Blocks trackers | |
| Blocks browser notifications | |
| Aura Password Manager | |
| Aura Antivirus | |
| Aura VPN | |
| Safe Browsing | |
| Identity protection | |
| Credit monitoring | |
| Aura Parental Controls | |
| Data removal | Yes, but as an add-on only |
| 24/7 U.S.-based customer support | Yes — chat or phone |
| Details | View Plan |
Aura Ad Blocker focuses on simplicity over complexity. It doesn’t offer deep user customization, but it includes the core protections most people expect from a modern ad blocker.
Aura also blocks many common site trackers that monitor browsing behavior and build user profiles. Users can view the number of elements blocked per page via the extension icon, but there’s no in-depth breakdown of what was stopped.
Overall, the feature set prioritizes ease of use over advanced control, making Aura a good fit for beginners, but potentially frustrating for users who want more transparency or fine-tuning.
Aura’s ad blocker is bundled with basic anti-tracking protections. It automatically removes common ad formats (such as pop-ups, banners, and autoplay videos) and prevents many third-party trackers from logging your behavior across websites.
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While it doesn’t offer detailed tracker visualization or manual blocklists, it still reduces ad clutter and improves overall privacy without requiring extra setup.
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Aura’s password manager includes unlimited storage for login credentials, autofill capabilities, a built-in strong password generator, and alerts when passwords are found in known data breaches.
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This feature continuously scans for malware, spyware, ransomware, and other threats, both during downloads and while browsing. It’s designed to run quietly in the background and doesn't require constant user input. While we didn’t test its antivirus capabilities directly in this review, Aura packages this in as a system-wide protection layer beyond ad blocking.
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Aura includes a built-in VPN with no data caps. It encrypts your web traffic, allowing you to browse anonymously. The VPN activates with one click and connects automatically, offering a kill switch in case the VPN connection is lost, and can even provide split tunneling if needed.
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We tested Aura Ad Blocker using three well-established tools: AdBlock Tester, EFF’s Cover Your Tracks, and Can You Block It? Each one targets a different aspect of ad and tracker behavior.
AdBlock Tester evaluates how well the blocker handles visual ads (such as banners and videos) as well as hidden scripts, including analytics trackers and anti-adblock defenses. Aura did a good job overall, but didn't block all the error monitoring scripts. However, that is not a deal-breaker by any means.
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Cover Your Tracks focuses more on fingerprinting resistance and cookie blocking, revealing how much of your online identity remains exposed. Even the best ad blockers only score 2/3 for this one, so Aura is aligned with competitors like Total Ad Block.
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Meanwhile, Can You Block It? focuses on known ad scripts to determine whether the blocker effectively intercepts them before they can load. Aura Ad Blocker passed by blocking all the annoying ads.
| AdBlock Tester | Cover Your Tracks | Can You Block It? | |
| Aura Ad Blocker score | 92/100 | 2/3 | 3/3 |
For many people, blocking YouTube ads is the main reason to install an ad blocker. Whether you're trying to avoid long unskippable ads or just want to get to your content faster, a good blocker should help cut through the visual clutter.
Aura did interfere with some ads, but not all of them. In the regular browser window, video ads didn’t autoplay — the ad had a timer that you could wait for.
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At other times, Aura blocked the YouTube video ad from playing, displaying a static ad screen with a skip option.
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In Incognito mode, the same video played full ads with no skip button, confirming that Aura had some effect in the active browser. However, the ad was still visible and partially functional. We also saw ads remain in the recommended video sidebar and on the homepage, meaning visual clutter wasn’t totally gone.
The good news is that Aura didn’t break video playback or cause lag, and we never encountered a loading error. The experience remained smooth throughout. Still, Aura may not be the best pick if completely stripping ads from YouTube is your top priority. We’d recommend a top-tested ad blocker like Total Adblock instead.
Paywalls can be one of the more frustrating parts of modern browsing — especially when you're just trying to read a single article without signing up for a full subscription. We tested whether Aura Ad Blocker could bypass a combination of soft and hard paywalls, even though this isn’t a feature it advertises.
In our tests, Aura didn’t bypass most major paywalls. The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and The Atlantic were all major websites that still had a paywall with Aura Ad Block active.
We also tried more local news websites and found that The Billings Gazette, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and The Detroit News all maintained their paywall restrictions with Aura enabled.
The only site that loaded fully without a visible paywall was the Reading Eagle. That said, bypassing paywalls isn’t something most ad blockers handle well — and in Aura’s case, it’s clear that this tool is focused more on security and ad disruption than content unlocking.
Aura Ad Blocker is currently available only on Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. It is not compatible with Firefox or mobile browsers like Samsung Internet. If you install the full Aura suite on your phone, you’ll still get antivirus and VPN protection — but not the ad blocker.
1. The Aura Ad Block extension is easy to add to both Chrome and Edge. Once your account is set up, navigate to the settings menu (represented by a gray cog) on your dashboard through your browser. On the Devices page, click Install Aura for Chrome.
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2. You will be redirected to the Aura install page in the Chrome Web Store. Click Add to Chrome.
3. The extension will request your permission to install and inform you about the data it will be able to read and modify. Click Add extension.
4. Once installed, you will be presented with the Aura Ad Block floating menu, where you can turn the ad block on or off and view your password for the current site. The full password manager is located in the Vault section of the Aura website.
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5. Another suggestion is to “pin” Aura to your taskbar for easy access when you want or need to disable the ad block or check password health on websites.
Aura Ad Blocker works best as part of Aura’s full security suite, but it lacks the flexibility of more dedicated tools. If ad blocking is your main goal, Total Adblock and Surfshark CleanWeb are stronger picks.
Total Adblock provides robust, browser-based ad blocking with whitelisting, tracker protection, and enhanced page loading speeds. A free version is available, or you can upgrade to include antivirus software as well.
Surfshark CleanWeb comes bundled with Surfshark’s VPN. It blocks ads across browsers, apps, and smart TVs, while also adding privacy tools such as encryption and phishing protection.
| Ad blocker |  |
 CleanWeb |
 Ad Block and Anti-Track |
| Best for | Best overall | Best all-in-one bundle | Best for identity protection |
| Lowest starting price | $1.59/mo (billed annually) | $2.89/mo (billed annually) | $19.99/first yr |
| Blocks YouTube ads | |||
| Adblock Tester score | 100/100 | 96/100 | 92/100 |
| Learn more | Get Total Adblock | Get Surfshark CleanWeb | Get Aura Ad Blocker |
Yes. Aura is a well-known digital security company that offers identity theft protection, antivirus, VPN tools, and an ad blocker.
Aura Ad Blocker is compatible only with Chrome and Edge, lacks customization options, and is bundled with a broader plan, with no option to purchase it separately.
Yes. Aura includes malware protection through its antivirus features and blocks malicious ad domains through the ad blocker.
Yes, all Aura plans, including the identity theft protection plan, come with an ad blocker through the Online & Device Security features.
Aura Ad Blocker is a solid option for users who want a simple-to-use blocker that just works. It effectively stops banner ads, pop-ups, and the dreaded autoplayed YouTube ads, and it also helps improve your privacy by cutting off common trackers.
But it lacks advanced controls, and its narrow browser compatibility may leave some users wanting more.
If you're already considering Aura for its antivirus, VPN, or identity protection tools, the ad blocker is a great bonus to whichever package you choose. However, if ad blocking is your primary concern, you’ll find more control and better browser coverage in dedicated ad blockers, such as Total Adblock or Surfshark CleanWeb.
Seamlessly blocks banner ads, pop-ups, trackers, malicious sites, and phishing attempts
Base plans include antivirus software, a password manager, a VPN, and Safe Browsing tools
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