The Best Ad Blockers for Twitch 2024

NordVPN Threat Protection, Total Adblock, AdLock, Surfshark CleanWeb, and uBlock Origin are some of the best apps we’ve found for eliminating Twitch ads and getting a clean stream. While there are a few other notable mentions, the features and customization available in these five services make them ideal for Twitch streamers. What’s better is that they all provide the option to toggle ad blocking off to allow support for your favorite creators.

We'll go over the benefits and drawbacks of each ad blocker so you can watch Twitch streams without annoying ads.  

The best ad blockers for Twitch

Twitch.tv was launched in 2007 as a streaming platform for gamers as a branch of Justin.tv. While it might seem wild to think of watching live streams of others playing video games, it’s no wilder than sitting in your friend’s basement after school, waiting for your turn on the SEGA. 

Recently, however, Twitch fans have complained extensively that the ads are making the experience almost impossible. We recommend the following ad blockers to improve your Twitch experience:

• NordVPN Threat Protection: Best for complete ad blocking
• Total Adblock: Best for set-and-forget
• AdLock: Best for social media ads
• Surfshark CleanWeb: Best for bundled features
• uBlock Origin: Best for anyone on a budget

Ad blocker	Best Overall
Compatibility	Threat Protection: Windows, macOS Threat Protection Lite: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Edge	Windows, Mac, Chrome, Edge, Opera, Amazon Fire, Safari, Android, iOS	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Safari	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, FireTV, Chrome, Firefox, Edge	Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari (prior to 13), Opera, Chromium
Features	Ad blocking, tracker blocking, malware blocking	Different levels of ad, tracker, and script blocking	Ad blocking, removes annoyances, disables trackers and scripts	Lots of extra features like dark web monitoring included with VPN	Various browser support, small footprint
Learn more	Get NordVPN Threat Protection Read NordVPN Threat Protection Review	Get Total Adblock Read Total Adblock Review	Get AdLock Read AdLock Review	Get Surfshark CleanWeb Read Surfshark CleanWeb Review	Get uBlock Origin Read uBlock Origin Review

NordVPN Threat Protection: Best for complete ad blocking

Once again, NordVPN wins on all accounts. It comes with NordVPN Threat Protection, which is a built-in ad blocker. It was also easy to switch to a Polish server and enjoy streaming Twitch ad-free.

Being able to tip streamers who gave us content we enjoyed rather than being forced to watch a bazillion ads made the experience that much more enjoyable.

What we liked

NordVPN is an extremely easy-to-use VPN service that blocks ads easily. All you have to do is hit the shield icon on the left side of your NordVPN app and toggle on Threat Protection. You don't even need an active VPN connection to use this feature. Threat Protection can be used on Windows and macOS without a VPN connection, and Threat Protection Lite works while you're conencted to a VPN.

Threat Protection also provides additional safety for malicious scripting and ads. Parents can enjoy that feature knowing their kids won’t be able to click a link in the comments section of a stream and accidentally download malware. Plus, NordVPN Threat Protection scored 91/100 on AdBlock Tester, proving it's effective against contextual ads, banner ads, and analytics tools.

What we didn’t like

NordVPN Threat Protection is part of NordVPN, so you can't buy the feature separately. Nord also doesn't come with a free tier, so you’ll always have to pay for the service. There are other services in this review that are free, but they also don’t have the same features as NordVPN.

And while navigating to a no-ads country like Poland isn’t necessarily difficult, it’s still a very specific method for blocking ads. This also means we’ll either have to split tunnel our usage or stay off regional content for other countries while streaming on Twitch.

Split tunneling is when you route some of your internet traffic through a VPN and the rest either through another VPN connection or unprotected. If we’re watching Netflix in the U.K. and trying to access Twitch through a Polish server, this could be an example of regional content accessed through split tunneling. Most people won’t necessarily need to do this, but it’s still a drawback worth mentioning.

NordVPN Threat Protection pros and cons

Get NordVPN Threat Protection | Read NordVPN Threat Protection Review

Total Adblock: Best for set-and-forget

Total Adblock is a simple, effective, and easy-to-use browser extension that works on a variety of browsers. It comes with very few bells and whistles, which means once you set your few options you can forget about it. This may or may not be a problem, depending on what you’re looking for in an ad blocker. 

What we liked

We were impressed by how easy it is to use Total Adblock from the start. As soon as our extension was installed, Total Adblock got right to work at decluttering our browsing. 

Total Adblock also makes sure to walk you through a couple of steps so you know how to manage your search history and access custom filters, but this only took less than five minutes to complete.

While there is a paid version of Total Adblock, the free version works great at blocking ads. During our testing, it received a 100/100 score from Adblock Tester, which tests for an ad blocker's ability to block banner ads, contextual ads, analytics tools, and more. 

If you choose to pay and upgrade to the premium version, you’ll receive additional features like TotalAV antivirus protection and PC Tune-Up to enhance your computer's performance (a must for gamers).

What we didn’t like

Depending on your needs, Total Adblock may be too limiting. The free version excludes the top 15,000 websites based on Alexa.com, which is a shame if you were hoping for a completely ad-free experience.

It can also be really persistent about getting you to upgrade to premium. Total Adblock has been reported to show you pop-ups for its premium or not allow users to access certain features, which is ironic considering it's an ad blocker.

Total Adblock pros and cons

Get Total Adblock | Read Our Total Adblock Review

AdLock: Best for social media ads

AdLock is an effective ad blocker, even on its free plan. It received a strong test score of 97/100 with AdBlock Tester, which checks ad blockers against several different types of ads. 

AdLock also comes with a social media filter, with rules that protect your browsing from social media trackers. That way, you can visit Twitch, Instagram, Twitter, and more with a shield of privacy. 

What we liked

We were wowed by how well AdLock's free browser extension works. During our testing, we visited recipe blogs and found that AdLock blocked their follow-along videos and banner ads, removing a bunch of clutter.

As for Twitch, AdLock provides detailed walkthroughs on how to block Twitch ads on multiple operating systems. AdLock also seamlessly blocked YouTube ads, so you can rest assured that you can stream videos online without the annoyance of ads. 

What we didn’t like

Unfortunately, AdLock's social media blocker is only available with the paid tier. It can be an inexpensive ad blocker, depending how long your subscription is, it's just something to consider if you were looking for a free ad blocker.

When we tested AdLock's free extension, it only partially protected against invisible trackers and didn't help generalize our footprint. This might not be enough for total privacy enthusiasts. 

AdLock pros and cons

Get AdLock | Read AdLock Review

Surfshark CleanWeb: Best for bundled features

Surfshark One is like Mary Poppins’ bag — there’s always something new to discover. The bundled cybersecurity suite includes Surfshark CleanWeb. The CleanWeb feature is easy to toggle off and on, and blocks ads for you even if you aren’t connected to a specific country server like Poland.

The rotating IP feature is particularly useful when surfing the web. It randomly changes your IP address automatically, so you can stay safe no matter where you are or how long you’re online.

What we liked

Surfshark is a great VPN. It has features like CleanWeb and rotating IP, along with settings that automatically choose the fastest connection for you. 

It blocked all ads on Twitch and even allowed us to choose our own protocol if we wanted. If you’re looking for an ad blocker with a ton of extra features for other web security, Surfshark is a great choice. CleanWeb scored 98/100 on AdBlock Tester. 

What we didn’t like

All those features come at a cost. While Surfshark is actually one of the most affordable security bundles on the market, it still will set you back monthly or yearly, depending on the plan you choose.

Another consideration of Surfshark is where it's headquartered. The Netherlands is a 14 Eyes country, which means your data may be subject to the laws and regulations of that country and others.

Surfshark CleanWeb pros and cons

Get Surfshark CleanWeb | Read Surfshark CleanWeb Review

uBlock Origin: Best for users on a budget

uBlock Origin is a terrifically effective free ad blocker. As an open-source, cross-platform browser extension, it should be available to most people. We were also excited that it’s free to use and continually maintained by founder and lead developer Raymond Hill.

What we liked

uBlock Origin has a clean interface and easy design. The web browser extension allows for quick toggling between blocking and not blocking ads. The service itself blocked all ads on Twitch and even gives some diagnostics about what’s blocked.

There are also many options for customizations and controls. One of the best is the pop-up blocker feature. This means you won’t need to worry about streaming ads or pop-ups while using the uBlock Origin extension. All of these features together make it a reliable ad blocker. And, like Total Adblock, uBlock Origin scored a perfect 96/100 on AdBlock Tester. 

What we didn’t like

The additional uBlock Origin features found on Github, like filter lists and rules, require more technical knowledge.

Additionally, we weren’t thrilled that support only works on certain versions of Safari. The Safari issue has an easy workaround, but to be able to truly customize the plugin, you may need to do additional reading. If you’re looking for basic ad blocking, this might not be a concern.

uBlock Origin pros and cons

Read uBlock Origin Review

Bonus: Brave browser

When it comes to extreme privacy and blocking features, Brave is here for you. We love the levels of customization, like the toggle to “aggressively block trackers & ads” that appear right in the dashboard. 

We’re also impressed by the cookie consent blocker that appears to be new. It’s clear Brave’s goal is to make the internet safer and easier for you to use.

What we liked

Brave is dedicated to its fight to block advertisements. There are options to lightly or aggressively block ads, as well as the ability to block fingerprinting, cookies, and scripts. They’ve also recently released a feature that auto-declines cookies for you, so you won’t have to worry about customizing those when you land on a webpage.

What we didn’t like

Brave is pretty user-friendly for such an advanced tool, but that doesn’t mean it’s 100% decipherable, either. Some of the customization aspects may become a bit too technical for the average user.

Additionally, when all protections are turned on there’s a chance a site won’t load or load correctly. Brave warns you about this and helps you toggle what you need to run the site, but that means reducing some privacy settings.

Brave browser pros and cons

A VPN might be your best Twitch ad blocker

Sites like Twitch are in a constant battle with ad blockers. While services like uBlock Origin, Brave, and Total AdBlock are dedicated to keeping you ad-free, sites like Twitch are dedicated to stopping them. This back-and-forth can be exhausting.

VPNs, on the other hand, can access servers in a variety of countries. Depending on the advertisement laws, ads may naturally get blocked in those regions. Poland is a country with specific laws for ads on social media sites. Twitch doesn’t offer ads in Poland, so it can avoid navigating the social media laws. NordVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost are all great choices for a VPN to use, as they have servers in Poland and other countries that don’t show Twitch ads.

Other countries where Twitch ads aren’t shown:

• Ukraine
• Russia
• Serbia
• Columbia

Best VPNs for blocking Twitch video ads

How to choose the best ad blocker for Twitch

Scouring sites like Reddit can take forever, which is why we did it for you. If you’re looking to block all ads while also having the ability to support a creator, you’ll want to try a VPN. We strongly recommend NordVPN with your location set to Poland. This gave us the best results with a completely ad-free experience.

If you aren’t thrilled about having to use a paid service to block ads, you can choose a free browser extension like Total Adblock or uBlock Origin. If you’re considering other options, the following features are ones to consider:

• Ability to toggle between blocking and unblocking to support creators
• Disable tracking
• Pop-up blocking
• Mobile compatibility
• Open-source code (so bugs are identified and fixed quickly)
• Browser compatibility
• Whitelisting capabilities
• Script-blocking (to help stop malware)
• Parental controls

How we tested the best ad blockers for Twitch

While we have an extensive list of technology that we know of, use, and test, we went to Reddit to find the complaints Twitch users and gamer communities were finding with their streaming experience. After pouring through multiple posts and hundreds of comments, we pulled out the most-mentioned methods for blocking ads and tested them for you.

Testing was done on macOS with an M2 chip running the latest version of Ventura. The browsers we used to test were Safari, Brave, and Chrome. We frequently used Hasan Piker’s page to test, as he is the kind of Twitch streamer who employs the most ads. We found this information in a chart from Twitch.^[1]

@TwitchStuff/Twitter

Best ad blockers for Twitch FAQs

Bottom line: The best ad blockers for Twitch

The best paid ad blocker for Twitch is NordVPN Threat Protection because of its price, offerings, and Nord's location of origin outside of the 14 Eyes alliance.  

Total Adblock and Surfshark CleanWeb are also solid ad blockers that offer premium antivirus protection. Or, if you're not ready to commit to a premium service with more advanced security features, we can recommend the free services uBlock Origin and Brave browser offer.

Whether you decide to use freemium ad blockers like Total Adblock or AdLock, a privacy powerhouse like Brave browser, or an all-encompassing VPN like NordVPN, you’ll have plenty of options to get through a Twitch stream without constant interruptions. You’ll also have the ability to reward creators you find valuable. These tools give you back the power.

If you're on the fence, consider how our top recs compare:

• NordVPN Threat Protection vs. Total Adblock
• Surfshark CleanWeb vs. Total Adblock
• AdLock vs. Total Adblock
  
• uBlock Origin vs. Total Adblock

5 best ad blockers for Twitch 2024

	Best for	Compatibility	Learn more
	Complete ad blocking	Threat Protection: Windows, macOS Threat Protection Lite: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Edge	Get NordVPN Threat Protection
	Set-and-forget	Windows, Mac, Chrome, Edge, Opera, Amazon Fire, Safari, Android, iOS	Get Total Adblock
	Social media ads	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome, Firefox, Safari	Get AdLock
	Bundled features	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, FireTV, Chrome, Firefox, Edge	Get Surfshark CleanWeb
	Anyone on a budget	Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari (prior to 13), Opera, Chromium	Get uBlock Origin