Stands Free AdBlocker Review 2025: Is It Truly a Balanced Ad-Blocking Solution?

Stands Free AdBlocker (formally known as Stands Fair Adblocker or Fair Adblocker) is a completely free ad blocker that is effective and unobtrusive. During our tests, it was able to skip pre-roll YouTube ads and block cookie banners, push ads, and more.

In addition to blocking ads, you can whitelist websites, allow popups depending on the site, and easily see the different types of ads you've blocked. Unfortunately, it didn't do well on our tracker blocking tests, including stopping analytics and error monitoring.

Here's how Stands Free AdBlocker performed in our testing — and compared to the best ad blockers available.

Stands Free AdBlocker overview

Ads blocked on Forbes	8
AdBlock Tester score	80/100
Cover Your Tracks score	1/3
Can You Block It score	3/3
Does it block YouTube ads?	Yes
Whitelisting available	Yes
Blacklisting available	Yes
Compatibility	Android, Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Vivaldi, Brave, Android
Price	Free (donations accepted)
Learn more	Get Stands Free Adblocker

Last tested Stands Free Adblocker on September 9, 2025.

Our experience

Stands Free AdBlocker is extremely easy to use and does what it promises — blocks ads. All we had to do was install the extension on our Chrome browser, and all ads disappeared.

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 was significantly faster than usual due to the ad blocker's optimization. We also experienced very little lag compared to our regular browsing.

To get started, we checked out the Forbes homepage, which is usually loaded with ads. Stands Free blocked only 8, while in the past it blocked three dozen.

But next was the true test: YouTube. We were pleased to find that this free ad blocker effectively blocks YouTube ads, both on the homepage and those that appear before and during videos.

It was also easy to adjust the settings. By simply clicking the icon in your browser toolbar, you can block pop-ups on the site you’re on or whitelist it to allow ads. You can even choose to allow only pop-ups or Cookie banners on certain sites, which further customizes the experience.

Interestingly, we noticed that they removed a bunch of the settings options that were available back in December 2024. Before, they had additional options to turn off Facebook ads, for example, but this option was removed in this version. As most people who use ad blockers just want them all gone, we can assume this was just them simplifying their page since it was a rarely used feature.

The one thing we were disappointed to see missing was the "fairness" setting. The extension used to allow you to allow fair ads, so you can support the creator of the site while still avoiding intrusive ads like popups. This is no longer an option with the current version of the app. 

While Stands Free AdBlocker is completely free to use, you can donate to them if you'd like to support their cause. One other major change we noticed in this version of the extension was that they removed the donation button from the extension and made it very hard to find on the site. You can still access it by going here, but we thought this was an interesting choice to move away from donation requests.

Mobile experience

Stands Free AdBlocker also has an Android app, which is actually a full browser (since a lot of mobile browsers don't allow extensions). The app is called Ad Blocker Browser Stands, which threw us off a bit, but we did confirm it was the right app by using the QR code on their website.

We tested this on our Samsung S24 and found it to be a smooth and quick browser. It even worked to block YouTube ads, but of course, it doesn't actually block ads in the YouTube app itself.

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.

While they used to have a donation button right in the extension, they have since removed this and made the link hard to find on their website as well. It seems they want to move away from seeming intrusive by asking for money too openly.

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.

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. 

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 scored 80/100, which was an improvement from previous testing in which it only scored 60/100. However, last year, Stands scored a perfect 100, so it's not quite back to its glory days. 

While it did well blocking contextual advertising and banner ads this time around, it was unable to block some analytics and error monitoring scripts.

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 examines online fingerprints, including HTTP headers, IP addresses, and cookies.

The Cover Your Tracks test revealed that Stands AdBlocker doesn't effectively block tracking ads and invisible trackers, and our fingerprint is still considered unique, which means we're still identifiable while browsing the web. However, Stands is showing improvement with partial protection, as the last round of testing yielded a goose egg — with zero score across the board.

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). Since we didn't encounter any of these common ads, Stands Adblocker successfully passed the test 3/3.

Stands Free AdBlocker scores

	AdBlock Tester	Cover Your Tracks	Can You Block It
Stands Free AdBlocker score	80/100	1/3	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.

We first viewed our video in an incognito browser to see the ads.

Then we switched back to our main browser with Stands on and were pleased to see it effectively blocked pre-rolled YouTube ads. 

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, consider turning off your ad blocker or whitelisting the channel to help them earn the income needed to continue creating content. 

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.

And the best part is that Stands automatically saved our settings. So when we went to another Babish video, the elements were already blocked.

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 and includes TotalAV antivirus protection at a super low first-year rate.