Why We Think Pie Adblock is Safe and Legit [Tested 2025]

If you've learned about Pie Adblock online, it probably appears too good to be true. A completely free ad blocker that also pays you to watch ads?

We've confirmed that Pie Adblock is transparent about its business practices and comes with good intentions. As an ad blocker, Pie aced both ad blocking tests and blocked trackers successfully. 

We also like the premise of profit sharing from the ads you do choose to watch, but it's completely optional. Although Pie Adblock lacks some standard blocker features, we still think it works well considering it's free to use. 

We'll go over our thoughts on Pie Adblock and share additional ad blocker recommendations if you still need help deciding.

Overview

Ads blocked on Forbes	Unknown
AdBlock Tester score	100/100
Cover Your Tracks score	2/3
Can You Block It score	3/3
Does it block YouTube ads?	Yes
Whitelisting available	Yes
Blacklisting available	No
Compatibility	Chrome, Edge, Opera, Safari (for iOS), Brave
Paid version	Free
Learn more	Get Pie Adblock

We last tested Pie Adblock on August 8, 2025.

Our experience

Pie Adblock is surprisingly user-friendly and good at what it does. We tested the Pie Adblock extension on Google Chrome. 

Pie Adblock asks you a couple of questions during setup. First, you'll be asked if you want to use Vanish Mode, which shows you the ads being removed from the page. If you prefer a straightforward experience, you can go for Classic Mode. 

You'll also be asked if you want to make money from watching ads. There’s some controversy over whether Pie is a scam and if it actually pays you. 

Ryan Hudson co-created the browser extension Honey via The People's Internet Experiment (pie.org), a startup company. 

He’s also one of the people responsible for Pie Adblock, and he’s made several posts in Reddit threads explaining how extensions like Honey and Pie work. He even did his own AMA on the platform so people can feel confident trying Pie Adblock. We love transparency, so this move gave Pie some extra validity for us.

Once we had Pie Adblock set up, it was easy to use. It required zero effort, and the on/off toggle worked on both Chrome and Safari for iOS. 

During our original review, we didn't spot an ad blocker counter. We still didn't spot a counter while accessing Forbes, but it appeared on other websites. 

We tried reloading Forbes to see if it would come up, but no counter appeared. We wish there was an explanation on why there's an ad blocker counter on some pages and not others.

But overall, Pie surprised us. It was easy to install and use, and although we’ve only earned a little so far, we like the fact that it participates in revenue sharing with the average person. Being forced to watch ads is annoying, so getting paid to choose to watch them is obviously much better.

Main features

Even though Pie Adblock doesn’t require a lot of effort to use, you still have the option to enable the whitelist sites. You can also choose to use only the ad blocker and not participate in the incentive program.

Ad blocker counter

We were originally under the impression that Pie Adblock doesn't tally the number of ads it blocks on a page. The extension would only show the number of ads blocked across all the websites we've accessed while using Pie.

However, we noticed a pop-up from Pie would appear on some pages to let us know how many ads have been blocked. It also let us know how much visual screen space we saved by blocking those ads. 

We're not sure why this information doesn't always appear, but we do appreciate having an ad blocker counter when available. 

Whitelisting

Whitelisting allows you to choose sites where ads will always be allowed. Whether you want to support a specific creator or think that the ad revenue from these sites is worth your time, the whitelisting feature gives you the option to choose.

Rewards Program

If you’re after an ad blocker to clean up your online experience but don’t want the option to collect rewards, you can toggle this feature off. The nice thing about Pie is that you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to.

Pie Adblock’s test results

Pie Adblock performed well in all the tests we conducted. We started with AdBlock Tester, which presents a variety of ad codes to see if your ad blocker can block them. 

The first time we tested Pie, it received a mid-level average score (63/100). This time, Pie earned a perfect score. This is a huge improvement over just a couple of months. 

Cover Your Tracks determines how well your ad blocker protects you from trackers and helps you avoid profiling. Pie received an average score, as even premium ad blockers typically receive only a 2/3 score here.

We also ran Pie through Can You Block It, which tests against a variety of ads, including banner ads and interstitial ads. Pie also received a perfect score here, blocking all the ads.

Pie Adblock scores

	AdBlock Tester	Cover Your Tracks	Can You Block It?
Pie Adblock score	100/100	2/3	3/3

YouTube ad test

YouTube is where we were definitely impressed with Pie. It blocked everything, didn’t glitch, and allowed us to watch YouTube videos on both browsers we tried seamlessly. 

We also had the option to turn off ad blocking, so we could still support YouTube creators while blocking ads on major corporations. It was a win-win.

Bypassing paywall test

Although Pie Adblock previously bypassed some paywalls, that wasn't the case this time. We were blocked by The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and The Atlantic during our latest testing. 

But this shouldn't be cause for concern; most ad blockers we've tested are incapable of bypassing paywalls. 

What browsers and software is Pie Adblock compatible with?

Pie didn’t mention specific operating systems, but it does tell you it isn’t available yet for Safari on macOS or PC. It can be added to Chrome, Edge, Opera, Brave, and Safari for iOS. 

We've tested it on Chrome and Safari for iOS and found it worked perfectly on both.

How to use Pie Adblock

1. Go to Pie’s website and download the extension for your browser.
2. Enable the extension and allow it to disable your other ad blockers.
3. Manually disable your other ad blockers.
4. Browse the web.
5. Open your extension to toggle ad blocking off and on.

Top alternatives

Pie Adblock is a little different from its competitors. It allows you to earn money by choosing to watch ads, which is definitely a unique perspective. With Pie, you can cash in on the ad revenue companies make from us. 

If that’s not something you’re interested in, however, then consider our top rec. We’ve tested Total Adblock ourselves, and we love how well it works.

Total Adblock is our top choice for an ad blocker because it stops unwanted ads and trackers, and the premium plan includes the award-winning antivirus software TotalAV for ultimate online protection. Plus, it’s compatible with Windows, macOS, Chrome, Safari, Edge, Opera, Android, and iOS, and it has excellent ad-blocking test results across the board.

FAQs

Bottom line: Is Pie Adblock legit?

Yes, we believe Pie Adblock is legit because it’s honest and transparent about how it works. It's also improved significantly since our original review, receiving perfect scores on both ad blocker tests and providing strong protection against tracking. 

We were expecting it to be terrible, but it surprised us by being a great ad blocker. The fact that Pie participates in ad revenue sharing is a unique and interesting feature.

If you're still put off by Pie Adblock's rewards program, we've compiled a list of the best ad blockers to consider instead.