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The All About Cookies editorial team strives to provide accurate, in-depth information and reviews to help you, our reader, make online privacy decisions with confidence. Here's what you can expect from us:
Best for free use
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Better suited for advanced users because some features require technical knowledge
Best for avoiding paywalls
Best for Apple users
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Can disrupt the appearance/functionality of sites, emails, and apps
If you’re looking for an alternative to Adblock Plus, you’ll want to look at uBlock Origin, Total Adblock, and 1Blocker. uBlock Origin is free, open-source, and incredibly robust. Total Adblock helps you avoid paywalls. 1Blocker is built specifically for Apple users and offers a firewall for online safety.
Ad blockers make your online experience much cleaner visually, but they also help protect you from trackers that contribute to targeted ads, spam, and scams. Learn more about our top picks in our mini-review below, and see what makes us love each of these suggested alternatives.
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| Star rating | ||||
| Starting price | Free | Free | $1.59/mo (billed annually) | $2.99/mo |
| Blocks YouTube ads | ||||
| AdBlock tester score | 100/100 | 96/100 | 100/100 | 100/100 |
| Cover Your Tracks score | 0/3 | 2/3 | 2/3 | 2.5/3 |
| Can You Block It score | 3/3 | 3/3 | 3/3 | 3/3 |
| Paywall blocker test | 0/3 | 1/3 | 3/3 | 0/3 |
| Compatibility | Android, iOS, browsers | Browsers only | Android, iOS, browsers | iOS, macOS, Safari |
| Browser extensions | Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, Opera | Chrome, Firefox, Safari 12 or earlier, Edge, Opera | Chrome, Safari, Edge, Opera | Safari |
| Learn more | Get Adblock Plus | Get uBlock Origin | Get Total Adblock | Get 1Blocker |
Each ad blocker we review goes through a standardized test designed to push the limits of what the software is capable of. This includes vigorous third-party testing using websites like adblock-tester.com, coveryourtracks.eff.org, and canyoublockit.com. We also visit popular websites to test the ad blocker’s day-to-day capabilities, including watching YouTube videos and browsing Forbes.
Once we’ve completed the testing, we calculate our editorial rating by taking into account key features you’d expect from a good product. We score each ad blocker in the following categories and use a weighted average to calculate the final rating out of 5 stars:
To learn more about how we test, read our full ad blocker methodology here.
One of the best totally free ad blockers available
Highly customizable, open-source ad blocker that's compatible with multiple browsers
Can block advertising and analytics tools, including banner ads, video ads, and trackers, and can even bypass soft paywalls
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Adblock Plus offers a free tier, but makes frequent attempts to get you to upgrade to a paid version to get all of its features. uBlock Origin doesn’t offer any paid tiers, as all of its features are available for free, so it doesn’t annoyingly push you to upgrade. To take it a step further, uBlock Origin is also open source, which means its source code is available on GitHub for anyone to view.
Even though uBlock Origin can’t block all paywalls, we did have some luck unblocking some soft paywalls, which usually allow you to view a certain amount of content free monthly. We were able to exceed our monthly limit with the ad blocker turned on. If you’re still wondering about uBlock Origin vs Adblock Plus, we broke it down further to help you decide.
Non-tech-savvy users may find uBlock Origin confusing. Because it’s a free product and not regularly maintained as a premium service, the user interface looks overly technical. It’s not difficult to learn, but you may get frustrated when first installing and using it.
| uBlock Origin | |
| AdBlock Tester score | 100/100 |
| Cover Your Tracks score | 0/3 |
| Can You Block It score | 3/3 |
| YouTube ads test | Yes |
| Paywall blocker test | Yes — Soft paywalls |
| Learn more | Get uBlock Origin |
Instantly blocks distracting ads on millions of websites, including YouTube video ads
Blocks third-party trackers to protect your privacy and information
Improves page load times and enables faster browsing
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Like Adblock Plus, Total Adblock starts with a free tier. We found that Total Adblock’s free option was able to block malicious ads more than Adblock Plus. If you upgrade to the paid version, you’ll block all ads everywhere and even get an antivirus included.
In our testing, Total Adblock hid us from a majority of online trackers. Online trackers follow you around the internet and aggregate data on you, either to sell or for use by companies like Google. Reducing these trackers helps reduce the likelihood of surge pricing, scams, and spam. Adblock Plus didn’t protect us from any trackers.
Even though it’s robust, Total Adblock’s free tier doesn’t block all types of ads, and it doesn’t work on the top 15,000 websites. Total Adblock encourages you to upgrade, especially to a bundle that includes TotalVPN, but we’ve found that service to be lacking compared to other VPNs. Still, at least you have the option to bundle, whereas Adblock Plus doesn’t offer those services.
| Total Adblock | |
| AdBlock Tester score | 100/100 |
| Cover Your Tracks score | 2/3 |
| Can You Block It score | 3/3 |
| YouTube ads test | Yes |
| Paywall blocker test | Yes — Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Atlantic |
| Learn more | Get Total Adblock |
Works seamlessly on macOS, iOS, and Safari
Offers lots of features, including regional filters, a firewall, custom filters, and more
Free version also proved to be highly effective
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Both Adblock Plus and 1Blocker work on Safari browsers, but 1Blocker takes it a step further, adding a firewall to your macOS or iOS device. 1Blocker also has specific blocking capabilities. We’ve found it’s useful at stopping trackers, something Adblock Plus doesn’t do well. It can also block advertising, cookie consent pop-ups, comment sections, widgets, adult sites, and more.
1Blocker has a free option that allows you to choose one of its features at a time. If you choose to pay for the full version, you’ll have access to all of the features simultaneously. 1Blocker includes a lifetime subscription, which means you pay one time, and you can use it forever without having to purchase an upgrade.
1Blocker’s firewall can interfere with the appearance of emails and websites, and we ended up disabling it for normal everyday use. If there was an easy toggle option that didn’t require going into the app for the firewall, we’d probably use it more often. But for now, we turn it on only when we’re using shared Wi-Fi, like at a hotel or coffee shop.
| 1Blocker | |
| AdBlock Tester score | 100/100 |
| Cover Your Tracks score | 2.5/3 |
| Can You Block It score | 3/3 |
| YouTube ads test | Yes |
| Paywall blocker test | No |
| Learn more | Get 1Blocker |
Yes, uBlock Origin, Total Adblock, and 1Blocker offer better ad blocking features than Adblock Plus. Adblock Plus failed all 3 Cover Your Tracks testing points whereas uBlock Origin and Total Adblock blocked 2 out of 3 areas and 1Blocker blocked 2.5 out of 3 areas.
We think uBlock Origin is the best free ad blocking browser extension you can get. It’s strong and effective and blocks most things. Since it’s not really effective for Safari, macOS and iOS users can use 1Blocker’s free version to block ads on that browser.
Yes, Adblock Plus has been updated for Manifest V3 and works with Google’s new standards for Chrome. You should be able to use it on Chrome or other compatible browsers, such as Firefox, Safari, Opera, and Edge.
The best alternatives to Adblock Plus are uBlock Origin, Total Adblock, and 1Blocker. uBlock Origin is open source and will always be free, which, by itself is unique, but coupled with its powerful ad blocking capabilities makes it a no-brainer. Total Adblock offers the ability to bypass paywalls, but it also blocks an enormous number of ads and trackers. 1Blocker, built specifically for macOS and iOS, provides an Apple-specific firewall and can be purchased with a lifetime plan.
Ad blockers not only clean up your online experience, but they can also make you more secure online by blocking trackers and other malicious things. No matter if you’re online shopping or just want to clean up your favorite recipe blog, the best ad blockers will enhance your experience.
| Starting price | Best for | Learn more | |
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Free | Best for free use | Get uBlock Origin |
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$1.59/mo (billed annually) | Best for avoiding paywalls | Get Total Adblock |
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$2.99/mo | Best for Apple users | Get 1Blocker |
Instantly blocks distracting ads on millions of websites, including YouTube video ads
Blocks third-party trackers to protect your privacy and information
Improves page load times and enables faster browsing
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