Best for iOS

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On AdLock's website

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• Blocks YouTube Ads on iOS
• Doesn’t sell data

• Fewer features for Safari

Best for Compatibility

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On 1Blocker's website

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• Compatible with cybersecurity software
• Doesn’t sell your data

• Free iOS app is limiting

Best for Parental Controls

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On AdGuard Ad Blocker's website

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• Detailed parental controls
• Compatible with many operating systems and browsers

• Stats not straightforward

Best for Ease of Use

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On Adblock Plus's website

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• Easy to use
• Free version blocks a lot

• Fewer features for Safari

Best for an All-in-One Solution

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On Brave's website

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• Blocks ads, trackers, cookies, fingerprinting, etc.
• Imports bookmarks from other browsers

• You have to learn a new browser

Ads are annoying. We all know it. Unfortunately, Apple products such as Macbooks and iPhones tend to get shorted when it comes to security. The five we’ve chosen not only work on Apple products but also provide a number of features for security.

AdGuard has strong parental controls, but 1Blocker was built specifically for Apple products and has top-notch compatibility with other security software. If you’re looking to clean up your browsing experience with a content blocker, consider this list of the best Mac and Safari ad blockers.

The best ad blockers for Mac and Safari 2023

• AdLock: Best for iOS
• 1Blocker: Best for compatibility
• AdGuard: Best for parental controls
• Adblock Plus: Best for ease of use
• Brave Browser: Best for an all-in-one solution

Top 5 ad blockers for Mac and Safari compared

Ad blocker	AdLock	1Blocker	AdGuard	Adblock Plus	Brave Browser
Compatibility	Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Google Chrome, Safari, YouTube	macOS, iOS, Safari	Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Yandex	Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera, Yandex	Windows 64-bit, Windows 32-bit, Linux, macOS, iOS, Android
Features	Multi-language support, spyware filter, social media filter, allowlist	Toggles for different types of blocked content, custom options	Parental controls, allowlist, user rules, stealth mode, DNS, browser assistance	Blocks ads, allowlist	Blocks ads, cookies, trackers, fingerprinting, phishing, cryptocurrency miners, malware protection
Learn more	Get AdLock	Get 1Blocker	Get AdGuard	Get Adblock Plus	Get Brave

A VPN might be your best ad blocker for Mac and Safari

NordVPN is a trusted virtual private network (VPN) provider for computers and mobile devices. Although you may not immediately think of a VPN as being a good ad blocker, NordVPN boasts built-in ad-blocking capabilities. This means you’ll get the ad blocker you’re looking for plus the added security of a VPN.

Best VPN for blocking ads on Mac and Safari

VPN	NordVPN
Price	Starts at $4.19/mo
# of servers	5,463
Learn more	Get NordVPN

AdLock: Best for iOS

AdLock is a free ad-blocker browser extension for Safari (with paid tiers) and a paid app on iOS products. Although the ratings on the app store hover around a 2.5 rating for the Safari extension, the iOS product works well at blocking ads. It was built by cybersecurity experts and prioritizes privacy while also providing filtering options.

What we liked

AdLock’s privacy policy is impeccable. Not only does it not sell your data, but it also works on an internalized system to make sure your requests aren’t being sent to an outside server. Most free products harvest and sell your data, but this one is transparent about what it logs, who uses your data, and for what purpose. The privacy policy is truly impressive.

Additionally, we found that AdLock blocks ads on YouTube with no lag time, blocks banner and pop-up ads, and blocks follow-along video ads such as the ones you’d find on blogs. And this is just for the free product, which also blocks social media and spyware.

What we didn’t like

It’s not fancy and isn’t great on macOS. AdLock will block ads with some language filters and has the option for allowlisting on the iOS app, but you’ll have to pay for the social media and spyware filters. These come free on the Safari extension, so we’re not sure why the iOS app would be different.

AdLock pros and cons

Get AdLock | Read our AdLock review

1Blocker: Best for compatibility

1Blocker has more than 4,500 ratings on the app store with a 4.6 rating. It also touts itself as a “set and forget” product. According to one reviewer, 1Blocker was the only ad blocker that worked with their school’s mandatory enterprise security software.

What we liked

We are 100% on board with products that want to make the Mac user experience easy, and that’s what 1Blocker came to do. We’re also excited about the reports from reviewers that customer service was a breeze. Its compatibility with stronger security software, the “set and forget” ease of use, the fact that it’s free, and it doesn’t sell your data all make this a strong contender.

What we didn’t like

The free iOS app only allows you to have one filter at a time. This means we have to choose between webpage ads and web trackers. Also, there was a little more setup for the app than just plug-and-play. We had to go in and configure the ad-blocking extension settings manually after installation.

1Blocker pros and cons

Get 1Blocker

AdGuard: Best for parental controls

Although AdGuard shares many of the same features as its competitors, the real gem here is the parental controls. You have the ability to not only manually blacklist or whitelist websites you see fit, but you can also customize the type of content that comes up in search results on your children’s devices based on age. For you parents, this should help with peace of mind when your children are online.

What we liked

Being able to filter search content based on age is a helpful feature that’s included in AdGuard. Parents can rest assured they’re not only protecting their kids' privacy online with the ad-blocking capabilities but also filtering out potentially harmful content. There’s even an option to block executables so kids can’t accidentally download malware or other malicious content.

What we didn’t like

You may need to install the extension on multiple web browsers if everyone in your family is using something different. Also, we didn’t love how strange the ad-blocking statistics were. They might be difficult to interpret.

AdGuard pros and cons

Get AdGuard | Read our AdGuard review

Adblock Plus: Best for ease of use

Adblock Plus gets worse reviews than it deserves. This ad blocker is pretty easy to use, and it does a good job of blocking annoying and malicious ads. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean and transparent.

What we liked

Adblock Plus isn’t difficult to install or begin using. Once it’s downloaded, it guides you through installation. It will take you less than two minutes from start to finish. Despite what the reviews say, Adblock Plus did a pretty good job of blocking ads. It’s not the strongest product and it doesn’t have the most features, but it’s free and gets the job done.

What we didn’t like

You have to pay to get better ad-blocking features. Also, there are not as many features for Safari as there are for other browsers. If you want more bells and whistles, there are better products listed here. If you’re looking for something simple and light, Adblock Plus could work for you.

Adblock Plus pros and cons

Get Adblock Plus | Read our Adblock Plus review

Brave Browser: Best for an all-in-one solution

Brave brings a different approach to ad blocking. It doesn’t work with your browser, it is your browser. This means you don’t have to worry about installing an extension or something toggling off. Brave blocks everything from within your browsing experience.

What we liked

There’s a lot to like about Brave. It blocks ads, trackers, cookies, and fingerprinting, and it helps to keep you safe from malware and phishing attempts. It even makes switching easy by importing all your bookmarks. Brave will let you know how many trackers and ads it’s blocked as well as how much bandwidth and time it’s saved.

Brave also respects that creators need ad revenue from their websites, so it has its own rewards program. Basically, if you choose to view protected ads in the Brave browser, you earn crypto tokens that can be spent on anything. So you can reward your favorite creators, pick up a gift card for yourself, or buy other crypto. It’s up to you.

What we didn’t like

With Brave, you have to learn a new browser. Is this the end of the world? No. But it is still learning something new and adjusting to how the Brave browser works. Oh, and sometimes Brave blocks so much that you can’t actually see the website.

Brave Browser pros and cons

Get Brave

Best ad blockers for Mac and Safari FAQs

Bottom line: The best ad blockers for Mac and Safari

Security products are usually glitchy, laggy, and lack features when installed on Apple devices. This is because Apple’s proprietary security is so strong that it historically hasn’t needed security products. Unfortunately, cyberthreats have evolved. That’s where these ad blockers come into play.

We chose these five because they not only work with Apple products but also provide helpful features such as ad blocking and malware protection. We were even impressed to find a product like 1Blocker that was built exclusively for macOS and iOS. Apple products may not be infallible, but at least we know there are products committed to keeping them safe.

5 best ad blockers for Mac and Safari 2023

How we tested the best ad blockers for Mac and Safari

Security and ad blockers for Apple products are notoriously lacking. Some of the products we looked at, such as uBlock Origin, didn’t support Safari and didn’t offer an iOS app. We looked at security, features, compatibility, and how well the products worked to decide what blockers to include here.

Features we decided were relevant:

• Compatibility: It had to work on macOS and iOS as well as Safari.
• Actual ad blocking: it had to block ads successfully.
• Security: Were there additional security features?
• Extras: Did the product include extra features such as allowlisting or parental controls?

How to choose the best ad blocker for Mac and Safari

There are plenty of products out there claiming to block ads. When you’re looking for a product, many of the features and services depend on what’s important to you. However, there are some non-negotiable features you should consider in all ad blockers.

• Removes most or all ads: Free products should remove most if not all ads, whereas paid products should remove all ads.
• Lag-free video streaming: It shouldn’t slow down your video.
• Compatibility: It has to work with your operating system.
• Privacy: It cannot sell your data.
• Price: There are good free products out there, and the paid ones should be even better.
• Security: A good ad blocker will keep you safe from tracking ads and other malicious scripts or executables.

Author Details

Mary James

About the Author

Mary lives in Los Angeles and has been writing about tech for over 5 years. When she's not writing for work or fun, you'll find her in a theatre, at the movies, volunteering, or hiking the gorgeous SoCal landscape.