Stands Free AdBlocker Review 2024: Is It Truly a Balanced Ad-Blocking Solution?

Demand for a reliable ad blocker has increased in recent years as online advertising has become more prevalent. Stands Free AdBlocker is a viable option for those who want to browse the internet without facing annoying ads.

We had a seamless experience testing the Stands Free AdBlocker extension, which has a simple and intuitive user interface. In addition to blocking ads and trackers, you can whitelist websites, allow popups depending on the site, allow "fair ads" to support creators, and easily see the different types of ads you've blocked. Plus, Stands offers built-in phishing and malware protection at no extra cost. 

Here's how Stands Free AdBlocker stood up against our testing — and the best ad blockers available.

Stands Free AdBlocker overview

Ads blocked on Forbes	22
AdBlock Tester score	55/100
Cover Your Tracks score	0/3
Can You Block it score	3/3
Does it block YouTube ads?	Yes
Whitelisting available	Yes
Blacklisting available	Yes
Compatibility	Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, Edge, Vivaldi, Brave, Android
Price	Free (donations accepted)
Learn more	Get Stands Free Adblocker

Last tested on December 19, 2024.

Our experience

Stands Free AdBlocker (formerly known as Stands Fair Adblocker or Fair Adblocker) was easy to install and set up. Installation was quick and hassle-free, and the browser extension’s icon was conveniently added to the browser toolbar. To get started, we checked out Yahoo Sports. Using this ad blocker significantly reduced the number of banner ads we experienced while browsing the homepage.

With the built-in counter, it was easy to observe the number of ads blocked in real-time. The most significant improvement was the browsing speed of ad-heavy websites, which we noticed to be significantly faster than usual due to the ad blocker's optimization. We also experienced very little lag compared to our regular browsing.

It was also easy to adjust the settings. By simply clicking the icon in your browser toolbar and manually turning the pop-up blocker on, you can block pop-ups on the site you’re on or whitelist it to allow ads. By selecting Blocking Settings, you can fine-tune what types of ads you want to be blocked, whether it be basic ads like pop-ups or advanced ads like Facebook ads.

Stands Free AdBlocker paid plan

Stands AdBlocker doesn’t offer a paid plan — it's a completely free ad blocker! It only asks for voluntary donations to continue free access for all users. The money, whether a one-off, monthly, or yearly donation, will be used to improve the product.

Main features

Stands Free AdBlocker is packed with various features that are designed to provide you with a seamless browsing experience. It blocks ads of all types so you can have a faster and cleaner web session. These include pop-up ads, banners, autoplay video ads, and more. It has a built-in counter that allows you to observe real-time information on the specific number of ads that have been blocked per page and in total.

Seamless customization

Arguably the best feature of Stands Adblocker is its built-in customization. As a free service, Stands understands the importance of allowing select ads and pop-ups to help support websites that rely on advertising. You can easily toggle on/off which types of standard blocking services you want enabled, including Advertisement, Tracking, Adware, and Popups. 

But Stands Adblocker goes a step further to offer us advanced customization options that cover Facebook ads, Search ads, Sponsored links, and Web mail ads. 

Whitelisting

The Stands AdBlocker browser extension also offers whitelisting, so you can compile a list of approved websites that will bypass the blocker. In contrast, there’s also a block element (blacklisting) that can ensure specific websites don’t throw ads at you.

Plus, you can choose to allow pop-ups on select sites, which is especially nice if you want to support websites or content creators that rely on advertising. 

Phishing and malware protection

In addition to ad blocking and tracker blocking, Stands AdBlocker protects you against phishing websites and viruses, such as dangerous forms of online trackers, adware, and malware. It also prevents websites and companies from profiling and selling your information without your permission.

Test results

To test this ad blocker, we used three industry-standard tools: AdBlock Tester, the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) Cover Your Tracks, and Can You Block It.

AdBlock Tester tests the extension's overall ad-blocking capabilities by creating various scenarios that deploy different types of ads. These mimic real-world advertising techniques like pop-ups, banners, video ads, and more. During our testing, Stands AdBlocker only got a score of 55 out of 100, which was a huge fall from the last time we tested (when it got a perfect score). While it did well blocking contextual advertising, it was unable to block banner ads or scripts.

That said, we were able to retroactively block the banner ads that came through by using the Hide Element feature.

The Cover Your Tracks tool focuses on privacy protection by checking how well the ad blocker prevents third-party websites from tracking your online activities. This test looks at online fingerprints such as HTTP headers, IP addresses, and cookies.

The Cover Your Tracks test revealed that Stands AdBlocker doesn't effectively blocks tracking ads and invisible trackers, and our fingerprint is still considered unique, which means we're still identifiable while browsing the web. 

Can You Block It tests for several different types of ads, including ad blocker warnings, banner ads, and interstitial ads (or annoying ads that pop up while the webpage loads). Because we didn't see any of these common ads, Stands Adblocker passed the test 3/3.

Stands Free AdBlocker scores

	AdBlock Tester	Cover Your Tracks	Can You Block It
Stands Free AdBlocker score	55/100	0/3	3/3

YouTube ads test

Stands Free AdBlocker is effective at blocking YouTube ads. During our testing, it blocked all of YouTube’s ads, including autoplay video ads, and allowed us an uninterrupted viewing experience.

Remember that by blocking ads on YouTube, you are also preventing your favorite YouTubers from earning money for their hard work. If you enjoy watching their videos regularly, it is best to turn off your ad blocker or whitelist the channel so they can earn the income they need to continue making content for their channels. In addition to helping out your favorite creators, turning off the ad blockers may also improve your YouTube viewing experience by reducing buffering and loading times.

Bypassing paywall test

Most ad blockers, free or paid, typically can't bypass hard paywalls like the ones you'd see on national news sites. Paywalled content means that the user is required to subscribe in order to access the "premium" content. But some of the most powerful ad blockers can bypass soft paywalls like the ones you'd see on local news sites. Unfortunately, Stands Adblocker isn't able to bypass hard or soft paywalls.

What browsers is Stands Adblocker compatible with?

Stands Free AdBlocker was originally supported on only three browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge), but you can now download the extension on several browsers, including:

• Chrome
• Firefox
• Edge
• Safari
• Opera
• Vivaldi
• Brave
• Android
  

It's rated close to five stars on all three web stores with overwhelmingly positive user reviews. 

How to use Stands Free Adblocker

A particularly unique feature Stands Free Adblocker offers is the ability to block page elements. Here's how.

1. Open the Stands Adblocker icon on your browser.
2. Click on the Block Element button. (A prompt to select which elements to block appears in the upper-righthand corner of the screen.)
3. Move your cursor across the page to highlight the different page elements. Select the element you wish to block. 

For this example, we opted to block the busy YouTube sidebar that promotes related content. This way, we can exclusively focus on Babish.

Top alternatives

FAQs

Bottom line: Is Stands Free AdBlocker good?

Stands Free AdBlocker is a robust and reliable ad-blocking extension that offers an array of features and, from our experience, a reliable performance. Its strengths certainly lie in its customizable setting options, compatibility with major browsers, and its ability to strike a balance between user experience and the option to support websites dependent on ad revenue.

If you’re seeking an ad blocker with more premium bells and whistles, like a built-in VPN service or antivirus protection, check out our list of the best ad blockers we've researched and tested. For example, Total Adblock has a 100/100 adblocker score.