Privacy Badger vs. uBlock Origin 2025: Which Free Blocker Should You Use?

Ad blockers can prevent pesky pop-ups, banner ads, and even trackers. There are numerous ad blockers available on the market, and selecting the best one can be challenging. Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin are two completely free ad blockers worthy of consideration.

While Privacy Badger lacks some ad-blocking capabilities, its tracker blocking is superior to most competitors. But uBlock Origin’s ad blocking is better, despite some components requiring technical knowledge that might deter some users.

This article compares Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin to determine which free ad blocker is best for you.

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Privacy Badger vs. uBlock Origin at a glance

		Our Pick
Best for	Best for anti-tracking protection	Best for free ad-blocking protection
Price	Free (donations accepted)	Free
Ads blocked on Forbes	31	14
Does it block YouTube ads?
Compatibility	Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera	Edge, Firefox, Opera
Mobile compatibility	As an add-on to Firefox for Android only	As an add-on to Firefox for Android only
Learn more	Get Privacy Badger Read Privacy Badger Review	Get uBlock Origin Read uBlock Origin Review

Privacy Badger pros and cons

Privacy Badger may be a good fit if you’re more concerned with your online security and want to block third-party trackers. If you’re looking for a traditional ad blocker, uBlock Origin is a better option.

uBlock Origin pros and cons

Both Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin can block ads and trackers, which helps clean up your online experience. Some of the key differences lie in the ad-blocking capabilities. uBlock Origin blocks ads on YouTube, whereas Privacy Badger can’t. That's because Privacy Badger is designed to block trackers, so it only blocks ads if they contain trackers.

Privacy Badger vs. uBlock Origin: features

Feature		Our Pick
Whitelisting
Blacklisting
Ads blocked counter
Bypasses paywalls
Block pop-up ads
Block tracking
Block video ads
Block banner ads
Block push ads
Learn more	Get Privacy Badger Read Privacy Badger Review	Get uBlock Origin Read uBlock Origin Review

Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin offer different features with little overlap. Both offer whitelisting, which is a strategy that allows you to approve apps and ads you deem appropriate to see and block tracking.

That’s about where the similarities end. Privacy Badger’s features are somewhat limited, which makes sense since it wasn’t designed to be an ad-blocking service. But when compared to uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger’s lack of features leaves much to be desired.

uBlock Origin not only offers whitelisting but blacklisting as well. It includes a blocked ad counter, can bypass soft paywalls like common news sites, and blocks a wide range of ads, including pop-up, video, banner, and push ads.

Last but not least, uBlock Origin blocks trackers as well.

Privacy Badger vs. uBlock Origin: test results

Feature		Our Pick
Adblock Tester score	67/100	96/100
Cover Your Tracks score	2/3	2/3
Can You Block It score	2/3	3/3
YouTube ads blocked
Paywalls bypassed
Learn more	Get Privacy Badger Read Privacy Badger Review	Get uBlock Origin Read uBlock Origin Review

To test Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin, we used three ad blocker website tests: AdBlock Tester, Cover Your Tracks, and Can You Block It. We tested each on YouTube to determine if either service blocked video ads, and we checked to see if either service could bypass paywalls.

AdBlock Tester rates the effectiveness of ad blockers by testing contextual advertising, analytics tools, banner ads, and error monitoring. uBlock Origin received a perfect score of 96/100, while Privacy Badger’s had a less-than-stellar score of 67/100.

Can You Block It tests to see if an ad blocker is working as intended. These tests can help you identify what formats of advertisements are blocked — or not blocked. uBlock Origin performed perfectly, blocking all ads and scoring 3/3. Privacy Badger scored a respectable 2/3.

Cover Your Tracks tests an ad blocker’s effectiveness at blocking trackers, invisible tracking, and fingerprinting. We were pleased that both Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin received a 2/3.

Privacy Badger vs. uBlock Origin: compatibility and customer support

	Our Pick
Windows
macOS
Android	As an add-on to Firefox for Android only	As an add-on to Firefox for Android only
iOS
Linux
Browser extensions	Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Opera	Edge, Firefox, Opera
24/7 customer support
Customer support options	Email, online guides	Online guides, forums
Learn more	Get Privacy Badger Read Privacy Badger Review	Get uBlock Origin Read uBlock Origin Review

Our experience testing uBlock Origin was seamless and intuitive. uBlock Origin effectively blocked ads across most websites and worked instantly. The extension offers various modes to accommodate users of all levels: easy, medium, and hard blocking.

For more advanced users, options include the Element Zapper, which removes specific icons and buttons from websites, and the Element Picker, which allows for permanent deletion of these elements.

uBlock Origin is compatible with popular browsers, including Edge, Firefox, Opera. Unfortunately, uBlock Origin has been removed from Chrome and is no longer compatible with Safari. A big downside to uBlock Origin is that it’s only a browser extension, so there’s no app to download to your mobile device. While the advanced options are a bonus for many users, the lack of customer support — only GitHub — could deter other users.

Privacy Badger was similarly easy to install and use. We even received notifications to help improve any browsing errors we encountered. For example, we received a notification to customize permissions for a Google tracker if we wanted to log in to our Google account.

It was slightly disappointing that Privacy Badger didn’t block YouTube ads, but that’s not really what it was designed for. It’s great at preventing third-party trackers from tracking your online footprints.

It’s worth noting that a major downside to both uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger is their lack of compatibility with Safari. You'd have to use uBlock Origin Lite if you want to use a free ad blocker on Safari mobile.

Privacy Badger vs. uBlock Origin FAQs

Privacy Badger vs. uBlock Origin: Which is better?

Comparing Privacy Badger and uBlock Origin is tricky because Privacy Badger is an online privacy tool. So while both bring a unique set of features to the table, uBlock Origin is the better ad blocker.

Privacy Badger does what it’s designed to do — it blocks trackers from following your online activity, and it may block some ads in the process. Overall, however, we recommend uBlock Origin because it provides a more comprehensive ad-blocking experience, including the removal of YouTube ads, blocking banner and push ads, and blocking pop-up windows and other distractions.